TIMOTHY BRADLEY JR. should consider adding the words “The Controversial” or “Controversy” to his name so either it would be The Controversial Timothy Bradley Jr. or Timothy “The Controversy” Bradley Jr.
On Saturday at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, Bradley won over Jessie Vargas in the only way he knows how, in controversial fashion. According to the sports section of The Guardian web site “Bradley had been dominating the fight, but with about 15 seconds left in the final round Vargas landed a vicious overhand right. Bradley stumbled awkwardly. He was hurt badly, but didn’t hit the canvas. He had his hands up and could defend himself, and even started clinching Vargas. “I got hit by a hard shot,” Bradley said later. “I knew where I was at all times.”
Then something really strange happened. Pat Russell, the referee, walked in between the two fighters and waved his arms as if to signal that Vargas had won on a TKO. “I didn’t know what was going on,” Bradley said. The crowd of 4,311 at the StubHub Center screamed with confusion. Vargas raised his hands in victory.
No one, except one man, seemed to know what was happening. It had all been a big mistake. Russell was actually signaling the end of the round. “I thought I heard the bell,” said the veteran ref.
But there was actually seven seconds left to go in the title fight, which had ended prematurely. The “what if?” questions started immediately.
“All I needed was one more shot,” Vargas said. “Those seven seconds cost me the fight.”
After much confusion in the ring, the powers that be made the correct decision. Instead of a victory for Vargas, the fight went to the scorecards and Bradley won in unanimous decision (115-112; 116-112; 117-111). With the victory, Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs) earned his fifth world title and the interim WBO welterweight belt.
He beat Manny Pacquiao in 2012 under a cloud of controversy and now he wants to fight Gennady Golovkin…he won’t last a round with Golovkin. In fact, I would say Golovkin will knock Bradley out in the first round. I even think that the man he beat, Jessie Vargas, deserves to fight Golovkin more than he does since Bradley doesn’t possess power in both hands.
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Shane Mosley Jr., son of boxing Hall-of-Famer “Sugar” Shane Mosley needed only 51 seconds of the first round to dispose of Jason Kelly. A strong left hook to the body brought Kelly to his knees then the fight was stopped. The young Mosley’s five wins have a combined total time of only 13 minutes. According to the Las Vegas Sun Fighting web site, the young Mosley said, “It almost felt like I touched the other side of his stomach,” Mosley Jr. said. “I saw the face that he made and I knew it was over.” and “My dad always tells me not to second-guess myself,” Mosley Jr. said. “For this fight he said, ‘He’s a [slam] dunk. Treat him that way.’ And that’s what I went out and did.” The elder Mosley wants to keep his son actively fighting.
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I FOUND out recently that on April 18 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. lost his first and, most likely, his last fight in the light-heavyweight division. He lost to Polish contender Andrzej Fonfara by ninth-round TKO. The young Chavez quit on his stool as the bell rang for the 10th round. Not a wise and good thing to do when your father is regarded as the greatest Mexican boxer of all time. The young man’s work ethic and professionalism leaves a lot to be desired. Chavez Jr. is also possibly wilting under the tremendous pressure of living in his father’s shadow and the Mexican people’s expectations.
Moving up in weight was a bad and poorly advised decision. Chavez Jr. has a lot of soul-searching to do. Young Chavez even had illusions of grandeur to fight Golovkin, another guy who I think Golovkin can knock out in the first round. Chavez Jr. is already 29 years old so he has a lot of soul-searching to do.