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By Tom Donolson
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 rough style of fighting. Bradley is a smart fighter and he adjusts his style to his opponent. Bradley challenge was Alexander quick hands and boxing skills, so he pressured Alexander while reducing Alexander silky smooth style. Bradley proved not to be silky smooth but he did manage to rough Alexander up while neutralizing Alexander 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 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 a 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.
