Timothy Bradley advanced his claim to be regarded as the world’s best welterweight by beating Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
“That was my ticket to the boxing Hall of Fame,” Bradley said. “I beat a great champion.”
Both fighters earned $4 million as the American thwarted Marquez’s attempt to win his fifth ?world? title by coming on in the second half of the fight to win.
It was another close decision for Bradley, who was a hotly disputed winner over Manny Pacquiao two fights ago. He retained the WBO belt he won in that bout.
The pro-Marquez crowd booed loudly when it was announced that Bradley had won 116-112 and 115-113 on two cards. The third judge had Marquez winning 115-113.
Coming off a brutal brawl with Ruslan Provodnikov last March, Bradley vowed to avoid a war with Marquez. He used his left jab to keep the Mexican away and boxed from the outside for most of the bout before trading wild punches in the final round.
“He couldn’t touch me,” Bradley said. “I gave him a boxing lesson.”
Marquez was in the fight the entire way but at the age of 40 he seemed less active than in his previous fights. Bradley was the aggressor most of the night and seemed to control the action from the middle rounds on.
“I came to win. I felt I did win,” Marquez said. The judges took it away. You don’t have to knock out a guy to win. I’ve been robbed six times in my career. I clearly won the fight.”
The defeat was the latest in a series of disappointing decisions that went against Marquez. He fought Pacquiao three times, losing twice and getting a draw on narrow decisions before finally knocking him out.
Marquez, like Bradley, passed up a rematch with Pacquiao in favour of this fight. Pacquiao will fight Brandon Rios in Macau next month instead.
Bradley remained unbeaten in 31 fights. Marquez fell to 55-7-1 and may be near the end of a career that has made him one of his country’s finest champions.
