Adams on brink of fulfilling dream of gold medal

Save for the odd bead of perspiration that trickled from her forehead, Adams looked like she had just spent the afternoon in the garden, reading a magazine, not taking the next step towards a life-changing Olympic gold.

Adams, 29, was relatively untroubled in defeating five-time world champion Mery Kom of India to advance to today’s gold-medal bout.

It was her second win in three days and with Britain’s track cycling and rowing hauls now complete, and the athletics team stalling, the search is on for London 2012’s next big story.

And word is spreading about Adams, the 29-year-old one-time extra on popular soaps, who celebrates her victories with the Ali shuffle. The homage to her hero Muhammad Ali is becoming her trademark, and one of many character traits that makes her star potential.

“I had to put another Ali shuffle in there,” she said of the famous jig she did as the closing bell sounded on her semi-final win.

“I love doing that stuff, I’m a bit of an entertainer, the more the crowd cheer, the more I’ll do.

“I just enjoy the boxing so much and I enjoy the rhythm that I won’t even be thinking about it when I’m doing it.”

Adams’s desire to entertain bears all the hallmarks of a young Prince Naseem Hamed, who, it is hardly surprising, learnt his trade at the same Brendan Ingle gym where Adams trains on a weekly basis.

Naz was a forerunner for Asian boxers – 2004 Olympic champion Amir Khan included – who followed him into the sport he entertained throughout the 1990s.

Adams, with her trademark shuffle, unflappable resolve and courageous spirit, hopes to do the same for women’s boxing.

“We’re getting fantastic support here for women’s boxing and hopefully we’ll get more women into boxing,” she said.

“Hopefully, it will increase participation for us and we’ll see more girls coming through and perhaps going further than me.”

Naz had the titles to back up his entertainment.

Adams, already with a European title under her belt and three appearances in a world final to her name, has fought her way into position to win the biggest accolade in her sport, the historic first Olympic gold in women’s boxing.

Standing in her way is Ren Cancan of China, who as a three-time world champion and the top-ranked fighter at these Games, will provide Adams’s stiffest test so far.

The two have been on a collision course for much of the Olympic cycle, with Cancan edging out Adams in the last two world finals.

But the former Burmantofts Gym flyweight did have the upper hand when they met in Bulgaria earlier this year.

“I’ve proved I can beat her once this year already and I’m hoping I can do it again,” said Adams, ahead of today’s final.

“It could go either way I’m just hoping it’s going to be my day and I can get that gold medal for GB.

“I’ll treat it like a normal tournament and I’ll go in there focused and hopefully the crowd will give me a boost to get the gold.”

Not only is she growing in stature in the ring, Adams is also gaining in confidence outside of it, which is a sure fire thing that should she strike gold today, the offers will start flooding in for what will be one of the Olympics most bankable stars.

Asked if she was favourite going in to today’s final, Adams laughed: “You tell me. What do you guys think?”

Favourite. With that crowd behind her, she has to be. They roared her to success again yesterday.

As is common with boxers, respect was paid to the vanquished opponent, in this case Kom, who tried to live with Adams’s long reach by tying her up as often as possible.

But Adams did enough to win every round in an 11-6 win.

“She’s a fantastic boxer and a five-time world champion so it was a special victory for me,” said Adams. “I’ve got a lot of respect for her. She boxed her heart out today and gave her all.

“On the day I was just that little bit better. I stuck to the tactics the coaches gave me and worked with that.

“I’ve been preparing for this virtually my whole life and I just wanted to not do anything silly and get the points on the board and go through to the final.

“You need to do something special. I’ve shown how much I’ve improved by beating her.

“Words can’t express how I’m feeling right now. I’ve been training since I was 12-years-old and to think I’m finally here now, I’m really happy.”

Adams will take centre stage for the first final of the afternoon session at the ExCel at 4.30pm.

Following shortly after will be Katie Taylor of Ireland, who is backed by a raucous following from the Emerald Isle, in the lightweight final.