Going into Saturday?s fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, many were wary that a fight between counterpunchers might be no fight at all?
Styles make fights. Going into Saturday?s fight at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, many were wary that a fight between counterpunchers might be no fight at all. The results don?t bear that out completely, but there?s more than a grain of truth in that old axiom.
WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs), from Palm Springs, California, successfully defended his title by split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KOs), from Mexico City, Mexico, by scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 113-115.
Bradley, fighting out of the red corner in camouflage trunks, did what he needed to do to win. He stayed on the outside, used the ring, and avoided exchanges whenever possible and at all costs.
Marquez, by contrast, fighting out of the blue corner in black trunks trimmed in red and green, was on a search-and-destroy mission for much of the fight. Unfortunately for the Mexican warrior, one can?t destroy what one can?t find.
The fighters split the first two rounds. Even though Bradley was busier, Dinamita landed the more telling blows and took the first. The pattern repeated itself in the second, with Bradley getting off first. When Marquez initiated the action, Bradley counterpunched effectively.
As slow as the first two rounds were, the third round was even slower. The fighters were evenly matched and the scoring could have gone either way. We gave the round to Marquez based on effective aggression, but a nod to Bradley wouldn?t have been out of line.
Rounds four and five were carbon copies of the rounds preceding them. Bradley was faster and more economical with his punches, but Marquez kept firing away in hope that one of his bombs would land.
The lack of action in the fight wasn?t disappointing. It was alarming. Much was promised, as usual, and as usual little was delivered.
The next four rounds were emblematic of the fight as a whole. Bradley fought smart from the outside. Marquez tried to get close enough to land. But exchanges were few and far between, if not nonexistent. Forty-year-old Marquez appeared to be slowing down, but it didn?t dramatically affect a fight that was effectively devoid of drama.
Round 10 was the best round of the night. Bradley landed a right that rocked Marquez, who countered with a shot of his own. It looked for a moment like we might have a fight on our hands. But appearances, while reassuring, can sometimes be deceiving. The two men did exchange punches, a reprieve from the tactical tedium. It was, however, short-lived, as the championship rounds reverted to an all-too-familiar pattern.
The final scores might have been controversial, but no one objected too loudly. It was fight that either fighter might have won. But more important, by far, it was a fight that was finally over.
No one expected or even wanted to see another Provodnikov war of attrition. For Bradley?s sake, once was enough. And even though he fought smart, smart enough to get the nod, he didn?t fight brilliant, not by a long shot, and if he hoped to win back the fans he did not succeed.
Bradley insisted after the fight, ?That win was my ticket to the Boxing Hall of Fame.? That may be, but it was not a Hall of Fame performance.
As far as Marquez is concerned, he?s had a great career and maybe it?s time to call it a day. He had his defining moment against Pacquiao, and based on his performance against Bradley Saturday night, defining moments are likely to be few and far between.
