The light welterweight 140-pound unification fight between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander Saturday evening in Pontiac, Michigan was supposed to be one of the showcase fights of the year. Instead, it wound up being as boring as the extremely disappointing ending.
Bradley was a winner by technical decision after the fight was stopped in the 10th round because Alexander could no longer continue. He had been hit by accidental headbutts from Bradley twice, and the second one next to his left eye that occurred in the 10th round led to the stoppage. Bradley was leading on all three cards when the fight was stopped and he was declared the winner, improving to 27-0.
Alexander complained after the fight that Bradley kept moving in with his head and disrupting him, but then said he didn’t want to make any excuses. That was an excuse, but the reality is Alexander didn’t have a chance in the fight. He only seemed to land a combination on Bradley once, and that was in the fourth round. Even though Devon threw a healthy amount of punches, many hit air or gloves and didn’t land. He didn’t do much damage and though he appeared to be the aggressor, he was simply ineffective.
Bradley meanwhile was significantly stronger and had much more power behind his punches. The one judge who had the fight 96-95 Bradley at the time of the stoppage must have only seen the punches and not whether they landed, because Alexander appeared to be overmatched. He actually remind me a lot of Paul Williams; a skinny southpaw who can move and throw but is lacking in the power department.
HBO has the rights to a rematch but they would be wise to avoid one after how disappointing this fight was. There’s no way anyone would want to sit through another 12 rounds of that garbage, and it’s not making HBO look any better especially now that they’ve lost Pacquiao.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
