Vitali Klitschko stops Tomasz Adamek to retain WBC belt

Vitali Klitschko stopped Polish challenger Tomasz Adamek in the 10th round to retain the WBC heavyweight title Saturday night in Wroclaw, Poland.

Italian referee Massimo Barrovecchio stepped in 2 minutes, 20 seconds into the round, ending an utterly dominant performance by the Ukrainian.

The 40-year-old Klitschko was 6 inches taller than his opponent and used his size advantage, with the 34-year-old Adamek staggering back in the second, sixth and ninth rounds.

Klitschko improved to 43-2 with his 40th knockout. Adamek dropped to 44-2. Klitschko and younger brother Wladimir retained their hold on all three major heavyweight titles.

Gamboa stays unbeaten

Undefeated former WBA champion Yuriorkis Gamboa defeated Daniel Ponce de Leon of Mexico with a technical decision in a match between hard-punching featherweights at Atlantic City, N.J.

The fight was stopped in the eighth by the ringside doctor after an accidental head butt caused bleeding on De Leon’s forehead.

By state law, the fight went to the judges’ scorecards and all three had Gamboa ahead, 80-72 by two judges and 79-73 by another.

Gamboa (21-0, 16 KOs), a Cuban defector, was fighting for the first time since being stripped of his title for failing to make weight prior to his title bout against Jorge Solis last March. De Leon (41-4, 34 KOs) is a former WBO junior flyweight champ.