By Keith Idec

HOUSTON – Brandon Adams acknowledged that he didn’t do enough to beat Jermall Charlo on Saturday night.

Adams is sure, though, that Charlo felt his power during their 12-round middleweight championship match. Los Angeles’ Adams could tell by the way Charlo reacted to some of his punches that he got the WBC champion’s attention.

Adams also admitted that Charlo hurt him a few times in a fight Houston’s Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) won by wide distances on all three scorecards.

“I know I hurt him,” Adams told BoxingScene.com. “He knows I did. It’s up to him to be honest. I’ll be honest and say when he hit me with some shots, he got me. But, you know, I got back to doing what I was supposed to do. I didn’t shy away from nothing. So, it’s up to him to be honest about that. I can’t tell you what he feels, but I know I hurt him. I seen sometimes when I hit him, he grabbed me. It’s the sport of boxing. It is what it is.”

Neither fighter appeared badly hurt at any point in a fight Showtime televised from NRG Arena.

Two judges scored all 12 rounds for Charlo, who won 120-108 on their scorecards. The other judge scored 11 of the 12 rounds for Charlo (119-109).

Adams (21-3, 12 KOs), who won the fifth season of “The Contender” reality series last year, thinks their fight was more competitive than the judges scored it.

“I thought it was closer, but I’m no judge,” Adams said. “He did his thing, but it was times when I rocked him, too. You know? But, you know, it’s Houston. It’s his hometown, so I was looking to dominate. That’s what was on my mind. It wasn’t to just, you know, go to the judges and have a close fight. I wanted to win – period. Getting in there, the atmosphere and everything, it was a tough fight. But I expected a tough fight. So, you know, I appreciate everything, the whole set-up. It is what it is. I’ll just go back and learn from it.”

The 29-year-old Adams wanted to be more active, but he knew he had to be careful against a bigger, stronger opponent.

“I was trying to soften him,” Adams said. “He was the bigger guy. He’s huge – much, much bigger than me. I wanted to fight him. I wanted to engage with him, but I knew in the beginning the fact that he was way more rangier, I had to be careful. I had to pay very close attention. He’s a champion for a reason. I was sticking to the plan.

“They wanted me to do a whole lot more, but I was just judging his body language and everything, that’s what I was really going by. So, you know, I take the Ls with the Ws. I’m gonna learn from it and get back up in there. This is my livelihood. This is my passion. This is my sport. I’m looking forward to getting back up in there as soon as I can, when the opportunities are presented towards me.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.