This past Saturday night a rarity in boxing that has not occurred in more than 25 years took place. Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander, both undefeated jr. welterweight champions, fought in a title unification bout (even though The Ring championship is still collecting dust on the shelf). Both fighters are young, Bradley 27 and Alexander 23, both are willing to trade, both were undefeated, and both were champions. The hype surrounding this fight was at times hyperbolic and at times just what boxing needed. The fight as it turned out, was not what boxing needed.
This being the first big fight of 2011 I was actually looking forward to this bout with slight apprehension. I have seen at least 3 fights from each boxer and prior to Alexander's fight with Juan Urango I was able to sneak a peak into one of his training sessions. The first thing I noticed about Alexander was how hard he was ripping the heavy bag with tight looking uppercuts. At the time I had no idea what I was looking at but if you don't know what happened in that fight...well, just watch this. Bradley on the other hand is well known to be a pressure fighter with pillows on the end of his arms. This isn't a knock against Bradley but his last KO of an opponent was back in 2007. Nevertheless Bradley's skill and unreal work ethic have carried him to the top of a loaded division. To be considered the best in a division with Alexander, Khan, Judah and Maidana does not come easy. Below are my scores and comments.
January 29th, 2011
Silverdome
Pontiac, Michigan
Timothy Bradley vs. Devon Alexander
Round 1
10-9 Bradley
Bradley was scoring at will with his jab in round 1. Alexander looked timid and uneasy in the first minute but then settled into a jittery rhythm bouncing back and forth and left to right all the while being touched up by Bradley's strong jab.
Round 2
10-9 Alexander
It took four minutes but Alexander finally realized he was in a big fight. Alexander scored more often although the crowd seemed to only react to Bradley's flurries.
Round 3
10-9 Alexander
Alexander got cut by a headbutt which was ruled accidental.
Round 4
10-9 Bradley
In my notes from the fight I have written down, "Bradley has no KO power, landed 2 flush right hands".
Round 5
10-9 Alexander
Alexander dominated this round and was intensely focused in this round.
Round 6
10-9 Bradley
In most action fights the ebb and flow generally favors both fighters in the same round, back and forth until one relents. As I watched round 6 I realized that this fight featured much longer ebb's and flow's as each fighter seemed to be taking turns dominating rounds through the middle rounds.
Round 7
10-9 Alexander
Bradley seemed to take a Pacquiao type rest here in which he put up his guard and took as many shots as Alexander could give. Bradley's no Pacquiao, that rest cost him this round.
Round 8
10-9 Alexander
The third man in the ring, Frank Garza was terrible on two factors related to this fight. The 3 or 4 headbutts ruled as accidental and the actual breaking of the fighters. In most fights the referee will physically separate the two fighters and make them pause for a moment before he lets them go again. In this fight Frank Garza barely touched the fighters and there were some instances in which one of the fighters swung and connected on a punch coming out of a hold to which Garza responded with bewildered looks. Do your job and they wouldn't be pulling that crap.
Round 9
10-9 Bradley
This was a close, close round.
Round 10
10-9 Alexander
Alexander got headbutted for the 3rd or 4th time and of course it was ruled accidental. After trying, right in front of a camera (this will come in handy later), and failing to keep his right eye open the ringside doctor gave his opinion to the referee that Alexander could not continue and the referee ended the bout.
My Final Score
96-94 Alexander
Judges Scorecards
97-93 Bradley
96-95 Bradley
98-93 Bradley
Unanimous Decision Bradley
Well, here we are again fight fans, another fight and I am left without words. I swear to you I am not a horrible judge of boxing matches. My scorecards are generally within 1 or 2 points of the judge's scores. I saw this fight as a very even match and if the final 3 rounds would have been fought in their entirety I think the scorecards would have tightened if not changed to Alexander.
I think the referee is the man to blame here, although, I have not heard much about his job inside the ring. Frank Garza did a terrible job and the result of the fight showed it. I have heard and read too many people claiming Alexander quit. If you watched the fight you had to have seen Alexander trying to keep his eye open right in front of the camera. He didn't turn away, he didn't cover his eye, hell, I would be shocked if he even knew a camera was there. The fact is, Bradley's use of his head is well documented as Kevin Cunningham is quick to point out Bradley has cut his last 5 opponents with his head. What I saw happen with the "accidental" headbutt that ended the fight was, Bradley whip his head around as if though he was throwing a lightening quick, thunder hard punch. I never saw that punch. Add on top of that the fact that both fighter's heads were straight up and down when the butt happened and I think we have a case of horrible refereeing. I think Bradley was starting to get touched up by Alexander's speed and power and turned to one of his best weapons. This fight could have and probably should have been a DQ win in favor of Devon Alexander.
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