Tim Bradley W SD12 Juan Manuel Marquez
A confident and poised Timothy Bradley retained his WBO welterweight title with a slick and polished display of boxing moments ago in Las Vegas where he scored a well deserved split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez as seen live on HBO. Marquez looked in control in the opening round taking the fight to Bradley with a more aggressive counter punching approach than usual. Bradley responded in kind with a very good Round 2 where he put himself at risk by coming hard at Marquez with good success. It was putting himself in harm?s way pressuring Marquez but his speed and slickness saw him get away with it in the early rounds. The American switched gears and adjusted in the middle rounds and had Marquez slightly out of his element forcing the Mexican to lead while be backed off and then attacked in bursts. A confident Bradley carried his successful tactics down the stretch but Marquez was always dangerous and started to land a bit more flush in the ninth. Both men opened up a bit more in the tenth and the edge continued to be with Bradley as he seemed to stagger Marquez in the middle of the round. The Mexican warrior responded as he always does and things began to heat up in the championship rounds. Marquez carried the action in Round 11 as Bradley seemed content to play it safe and back off. The Mexican continued pressing in the twelfth and dominated the round until the final moment where, in a flurry, Bradley caught Marquez with a left counter that sent the Mexican reeling. He regained his balance and after the final bell sounded the official scores were read as 116-113 and 115-113 for Bradly while the third judge had it 115-113 Marquez.
