CARSON ? A day after a thrilling victory over a very dangerous opponent, Timothy Bradley might have scored an even bigger win ? a much-needed victory in the court of public opinion.
On Saturday night, Bradley held on to beat hard-hitting Ruslan Provodnikov in a fight where Bradley took the most punishment in his career. In his post-fight interviews, Bradley said he thought he got a concussion during the fight and went to the hospital immediately after.
Provodnikov also took a lot of punishment, with his left eye getting swollen and cut. During the fight, trainer Freddie Roach threatened to stop the fight because of the punishment he was taking.
?Nothing could have been better for boxing than that fight tonight,? promoter Bob Arum said.
After the fight, fans took to social media to voice their opinions, and there was major respect for both boxers.
Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis voiced his approval of the fight by tweeting, ?Great fight. I think BOTH of their stocks just went up. #BradleyProvodnikov @HBOboxing #respect?
Former Heisman Trophy winner and ESPN college football analysis Desmond Howard tweeted, ?WOW!! What a war these 2 just fought! #BradleyProvodnikov is a legit candidate for Fight of The Year.?
The boxing experts were also in praise of the fight.
ESPN boxing blogger Jason Langendorf tweeted, ?I don?t have words for what I just witnessed. This is why we watch boxing, kiddies. #BradleyProvodnikov #boxing.?
Ryan Songalia, a writer for Ring magazine, tweeted, ?This is the kind of fight that gets you out of your seat to shadow box while watching #BradleyProvodnikov @HBOBoxing #Boxing?
For a non pay-per-view fight, Bradley-Provodnikov found itself on ESPN?s SportsCenter for their evening telecast.
Winning in the court of public opinion is important for the future of Bradley?s career.
Despite being an accomplished boxer who has been recognized as one of the 10 best pound-for-pound fighters in the world for years, Bradley?s knock has been that he was not a fan-friendly boxer.
His fights were more technical than entertaining, which has been poison in the box office.
The criticism people would toss around about Bradley is that he can?t sell a fight.
Manny Pacquiao turned down a rematch with Bradley because Juan Manuel Marquez brings a bigger audience to pay-per-view.
On Saturday night, despite coming off his controversial victory over Manny Pacquiao, only 3,050 fans attended Bradley?s fight at the 8,000-seat Home Depot Center?s tennis stadium.
But Bradley?s rousing performance might have changed the attendance number for his next fight.
Boxing fan Adam Gershon tweeted, ?Make no mistake #BradleyProvodnikov as fighters gained star power. But as human beings they?ve given up a LOT.?
