Timothy Bradley retained his WBO welterweight title with a hard-fought split decision against Juan Manuel Marquez Saturday night at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Bradley outworked Marquez, and fought a smart fight, even though Marquez landed 29 more power shots than Bradley.
Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs) outboxed Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KOs), being careful not to get in a slugfest with a 40-year-old Marquez.
Judge Glenn Feldman scored it 115-113 for Marquez, Robert Hoyle 115-113 for Bradley and Patricia Morse Jarman 116-112 for Bradley.
Trainer Joel Diaz said before the fight the key for Bradley will not be what he does with his fist, but really what he does with his ears in Saturday night’s fight against future Hall of Fame boxer Juan Manuel Marquez at the Thomas and Mack Arena.
Bradley was defending his WBO welterweight belt against Marquez in a fight that pitted the last two fighters who beat Fighter of the Decade Manny Pacquiao in 2012.
Diaz said it was more crucial than ever for the 30-year-old Bradley to listen to his corner and stick to the game plan, which was be to box on the outside and frustrate the 40-year-old Marquez.
Salido wins by KO: On the undercard, Orlando Salido won the vacant WBO featherweight title with a seventh-round KO of Orlando Cruz, the first openly gay boxer in history.
Salido came out strong and continuously went to the body, punishing Cruz with both hands. Cruz took it well but was not busy enough to win any more than one round.
In the seventh, Salido again pounded away at Cruz’s body, then after getting Cruz on the ropes, he landed an overhand right, then a left uppercut flush on Cruz’s chin. The 32-year-old Puerto Rican crumpled and dropped to his hands and knees.
He did not get up and at 1:05 of the round, the fight was over. Salido (40-12-2, 28 KOs) was back in the featherweight mix. Cruz lost for the third time. He dropped to 20-3-1 with 10 KOs.
