In a bout between two young
undefeated fighters, Tim Bradley managed to win a
tough fight that will hardly be listed as a classic.
Much was anticipated but this was bout showed
that sometimes when two evenly match fighters, you
get a tough fight to score. Bradley won in a quite
anti climatic way when the fight was stop on cuts
due to accidental head butts and Bradley was ahead
on all of the scorecards.
This was a hard fight to score as
Bradley and Alexander connected on the same number
of punches and the boxer threw the more punches.
What gave Bradley the edge with the judges
was his pressure tactics, which neutralize Alexander
slightly higher punch total.
This fight had two major
problems. The first problem was Bradley's rough
style of fighting. Bradley is a smart fighter and he
adjusts his style to his opponent.
Bradley's challenge was Alexander's quick
hands and boxing skills, so he pressured Alexander
while reducing Alexander's silky smooth style.
Bradley proved not to be silky smooth but he
did manage to rough Alexander up while neutralizing
Alexander's advantages in hand speed.
In the first round, Alexander
connected on some nice blows and forced Bradley to
miss on a couple of wild punches but at the end of
the round, Bradley trapped Alexander on the rope and
while he managed to connect a right hand, most of
the combinations were blocked.
In the third round, Bradley
successfully nailed with some clubbing right but the
major event of the round was a head butt that opened
up a cut over Alexander's right eye.
This was the first of many head butts that
occurred due to a southpaw-orthodox fighter but also
to Bradley style of getting close to Alexander in an
effort to slow the quicker Alexander down.
In the fourth round, Bradley
landed two giant right hands that allowed him to
take the round but in the fifth round, Alexander
boxing style took the round.
In the sixth thru ninth round,
Bradley had the edge as he not only successfully
landed the bigger punches but his frontal attacking
style impressed the judges.
At the beginning of the tenth
round, another head butt forced Alexander to see the
ring physician. Complaining of a stinging sensation
in his eyes, Alexander could not continue and the
fight went to the scorecard.
Bradley won the fight by being
more aggressive but it was not a dominant
performance. Both fighters were
even in skills with Bradley's pressure style up
against the boxing skills of Alexander.
Neither could gain an advantage over the
other and this lead to a close but often sloppy
fight.
So what now?
Alexander may want a rematch but Bradley wants a
bigger fight against Amir Khan and of course Manny
Pacquaio but the latter is a long shot.
The 140 pound division is becoming one of
boxing deepest and Bradley along with Alexander will
be part of some intriguing and possibly classic
fights.
Alexander, Bradley along with
Khan are young fighters who just entering their
peaks. Their history has yet to
be completed and written in its final form.