SONAHR: June 27, 2015 – Timothy ?Desert Storm? Bradley is a world champion again ? thanks to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Jessie Vargas.
After lifting Manny Pacquiao?s WBO welterweight title in their May 2 superfight, Mayweather announced that he was giving up all the belts he had gathered in both the 147 and 154-lb. divisions. That act of renunciation set the table for a smorgasbord of title fights to fill those vacancies. Saturday?s bout between former WBO champ Bradley ? who had lost the title to Pacquiao last year ? and the undefeated Vargas served as the first course of that feast.
Bradley regained his old title via unanimous decision, with the judges? scorecards reading 116-112, 117-11, and 1115-112. That?s a comfortable margin, and it reflects the way the fight went for the most part, with Bradley displaying uncharacteristic aggression and Vargas responding in kind. The action was pretty good for a pair of boxers who had amassed only 21 KO wins between them in a total of 57 bouts going into their contest.
The last few moments of the fight proved uncomfortable for Bradley, however, when Vargas landed a shot that wobbled his opponent?s knees. Suddenly, a potential Chavez moment loomed, as in Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.?s stoppage of Meldrick Taylor with only two seconds left in the final round back in 1990, or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.?s near-knockout of Sergio Martinez in the last round of their fight two years ago. But Referee Pat Russell signalled the end of the round ? and the fight ? before Vargas could land another punch, thus ensuring the victory for Bradley.
Problem was, the round wasn?t really over. Ten seconds remained on the clock. That?s plenty of time for a sudden, unexpected ending to have occurred. How could an experienced third man like Russell have confused the 10-second signal, which is three raps on the canvas, with the sound of the final bell?
Even if Vargas had managed to get one or more shots in on a shaky Bradley, though, there?s no guarantee he would have knocked Tim out. Bradley has survived similar scares at the fists of Kendall Holt and Ruslan Provodnikov. But thanks to the referee?s lapse, we?ll never know whether or not Vargas would have pulled off a miracle win reminiscent of a Rocky movie.
So now Bradley is once again in possession of the belt he first won in a controversial decision over Pacquiao in 2012, only to lose it in a rematch two years later. Bradley has been a major player and champion in both the welterweight and light-welterweight divisions for several years now. But he?s always labored under the twin shadows of Pacquiao and Mayweather.
Those shadows are lifting now, with Mayweather slated to retire after one more fight (which is unlikely to be against Bradley), and Pacquiao?s career winding down.
But Bradley isn?t getting any younger. And the welterweights teem with young lions like Kell Brook, Keith Thurman, Amir Khan and Shawn Porter, who are poised to overshadow the Desert Storm.
