Bradley Proves He Deserves To Hang With The Elite

By Erman Housein

Timothy Bradley found himself in a strange position ahead of his WBO welterweight title fight with Juan Manuel Marquez last weekend. As a two weight world Champion and undefeated title holder campaigning in one of boxing’s more competitive weight classes, logic would lead you to assume that Bradley was the darling of American boxing with the backing of a nation as he prepared to defend his title on home soil against the legendary Mexican fighter. Unfortunately for Bradley he was still suffering in the aftermath of the controversy stemming from the night he picked up the WBO strap via split decision victory over Manny Pacquiao. That night at the MGM Grand Casino boos resounded in the arena as Bradley paraded his new championship belt with the majority in attendance feeling he had been gifted a decision.

Saturday would be the first return to Las Vegas for Bradley since winning the title 15 months earlier and again a split decision would be the outcome after 12 rounds of championship boxing. Once more the decision would favour the fighter known as "Desert Storm" (improving his record to 31-0-12 KO) and although Marquez and his team would later contest the result, it would be difficult for anyone watching to argue that Bradley wasn't a worthy winner this time out, delivering a career best performance which showed tremendous discipline and no shortage of boxing skill.

The magnitude of a victory over a fighter of Marquez's calibre was expressed proudly by Bradley himself, speaking of his performance he explained “That was my ticket to the boxing Hall of Fame. It's the crowning point of my career so far. (Marquez) is a great fighter. I beat a great champion. He never touched me. I gave him a boxing lesson”

It certainly was an excellent boxing performance from Bradley, which many doubted he was capable of producing. In the pre fight build up Bradley spoke often of his desire to prove his doubters wrong against Marquez. The suggestion was that this willingness to prove himself to his critics would cause him to fight on emotion and instinct rather than to a strategic fight plan capable of handling "Dinamita". In his previous bout and first title defence against Ruslan Provodnikov in front of his home town fans in California, Bradley chose to prove his worthiness as champion by engaging in an almighty tear up that saw him staggered multiple times throughout the bout and sent to deck in the final round. Bradley would escape with title intact, awarded a unanimous decision victory a verdict once again heavily questioned by many quarters suggesting Bradley was the beneficiary of a home town decision.

On Saturday night against Marquez with two contentious decisions in a row Bradley would indeed prove his doubters wrong but this time in a fashion far more suited to his gifts as a fighter. There would be no 'slug fest' this time out, to stand toe-to-toe with one of the games great counter punchers and a man with much the heavier hands would be suicidal. Instead Bradley would execute a game plan utilising his superior speed and excellent footwork to frustrate Marquez for long spells. Marquez for all his brilliance has never been at his most comfortable in the ring when playing the role of the come forward fighter and this was fully exploited by Bradley who out landed Marquez 82-38 in jabs (according to CompuBox) throughout the contest, leaving Marquez rarely able to properly set himself to land in his punches. By moving out of range after landing, Bradley often limited Marquez to single shots and for the most part he was able to slip and manoeuvre out of harms way.

Although a few of the rounds were close and tough to score Bradley generally looked the more comfortable man on the night. But considering how tight the final scorecards were Bradley could have been left kicking himself, giving away the last 2 rounds after spending far too much time posturing and playing to the crowd. He did land a quality left hand which staggered Marquez in the final few seconds of the twelfth round, opting once again to pose for the crowd rather than follow up and land a free shot on the defenceless Mexican.

The final scorecards were 115-113, 116-112, and 113-115, in favour of Bradley and as he celebrated with his team the body language of Marquez suggested there had been an injustice. In truth, the fight was a close one but the right man was declared the victor. Marquez has experienced more than his fair share of contentious decisions in the past but this time there was no serious hint of robbery.

It is unlikely this will be the last we see of Marquez, although not at his best on the night he was still competitive throughout the contest and Bradley would admit afterwards that Marquez had "dazed him a couple of times in the fight" with his power. A loss by a couple of rounds to a hungry young champion will not damage Marquez's standing too much and even if he cannot secure an immediate rematch he is likely to resurface as part of another high profile bout in the spring of 2014.

For Bradley It was he who had more riding on the outcome of this fight, victory and more importantly the quality of his performance certainly clarified that he belongs with the elite stars of the sport. There will be some who will never fully accept him due to the Pacquiao fight, this is an unfortunate part of boxing where baggage from previous bouts can be unfairly used against a fighter and no matter what they achieve subsequently they can never fully shake off what has gone before. Perhaps a rematch with Pacquiao would finally help Bradley win over the doubters. If he decides to stay with Top Rank this is a fight that could be easily made and would certainly generate a mass of interest due to their first bout and the fact Bradley has now knocked off the man who brutally stopped Pacquiao at the end of last year.

Fists of Fury wrote:I just can't subscribe to that, MM. His 'win' over Pacquiao surely cannot be included...he was fairly trounced in that fight and to be given the win was incredible, really. He's a decent fighter, exceptionally fit and tough as old boots, no doubt, but he isn't an elite fighter.

People also seem to forget the hell he went through in his previous fight...

He's a good fighter, but that's where it stops. Any talk of elite is laughable, and to be frank I'd probably draw the curtains if he and Mayweather fought in my back garden. Seeing Floyd pot shot his way to a wide decision against a Bradley that's unwilling to engage doesn't quite warm the cockles.

Fists of Fury wrote:I just can't subscribe to that, MM. His 'win' over Pacquiao surely cannot be included...he was fairly trounced in that fight and to be given the win was incredible, really. He's a decent fighter, exceptionally fit and tough as old boots, no doubt, but he isn't an elite fighter.

People also seem to forget the hell he went through in his previous fight...

He's a good fighter, but that's where it stops. Any talk of elite is laughable, and to be frank I'd probably draw the curtains if he and Mayweather fought in my back garden. Seeing Floyd pot shot his way to a wide decision against a Bradley that's unwilling to engage doesn't quite warm the cockles.

Mr Bounce wrote: appears to have all the charisma of a box of sand, rather than a Desert Storm.

Group Cpt Lionel Mandrake wrote:

Mr Bounce wrote: appears to have all the charisma of a box of sand, rather than a Desert Storm.

 

DAVE667 wrote:He headbutted Holt into submission and Alexander had him on the deck before switching off and doing his usual Devon Alexander. Witter has never been any great shakes in any of his World title fights, he was gifted a decision against Manny, lucky not to have been beaten by Provodnikov and is now claiming to have beaten a great fighter at his peak (namely the 40 yr old...I'll say that again FORTY YEAR OLD) JMM.

Bradley's a nice guy but he's nothing special.

Lance wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:He headbutted Holt into submission and Alexander had him on the deck before switching off and doing his usual Devon Alexander. Witter has never been any great shakes in any of his World title fights, he was gifted a decision against Manny, lucky not to have been beaten by Provodnikov and is now claiming to have beaten a great fighter at his peak (namely the 40 yr old...I'll say that again FORTY YEAR OLD) JMM.

Bradley's a nice guy but he's nothing special.

man you could pick apart anybodies record with that sort of attitude.

Bradley is elite. he may be behind Mayweather and Manny too if you think he beat him. But nobody was talking too much about Marquez age before Bradley beat him. Alexander is a good win and so was Peterson and Holt. Bradley aint the most exciting boxer around but hes not as dull as hes made out to be. Hes got plenty of character, some people just don't bother to pay attention to anything a boxer says unless its somebody they have been force fed

DAVE667 wrote:

Lance wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:He headbutted Holt into submission and Alexander had him on the deck before switching off and doing his usual Devon Alexander. Witter has never been any great shakes in any of his World title fights, he was gifted a decision against Manny, lucky not to have been beaten by Provodnikov and is now claiming to have beaten a great fighter at his peak (namely the 40 yr old...I'll say that again FORTY YEAR OLD) JMM.

Bradley's a nice guy but he's nothing special.

man you could pick apart anybodies record with that sort of attitude.

Bradley is elite. he may be behind Mayweather and Manny too if you think he beat him. But nobody was talking too much about Marquez age before Bradley beat him. Alexander is a good win and so was Peterson and Holt. Bradley aint the most exciting boxer around but hes not as dull as hes made out to be. Hes got plenty of character, some people just don't bother to pay attention to anything a boxer says unless its somebody they have been force fed

Sorry I haven't been into a branch of WH Smith for ages so clearly haven't got hold a the new dictionary where the word "elite" has been so drastically redefined. I take it this will be the same dictionary that has the definition of "literally" as meaning "not literally but you get what I'm talking about sort of innit!"

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Don't think I'm being patronising.......But  

Dave's Boxing dictionary exists of the careers of about Ten Boxers..

So he's probably better off reading than contributing on this thread.....

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Reckon Dave thought the thread title was .......

"Bradley Pryce proves he deserves to hang with the Elite !!"  

We all make mistakes kid.......