I must say I was thoroughly impressed with Timothy Bradley's performance on Saturday night. Not only did he win the fight, he made a great counterpuncher miss badly for 12 rounds. The one scenario I thought could possibly lead to Bradley victory played itself out perfectly for him. Bradley listened to his corner, and out-boxed Marquez. The other half of that scenario, was Marquez falling in love with his own power, and choosing to stalk Bradley. The only other time he tried this, was the only other comprehensive loss of his career.. a 12-round domination at the hands of Floyd Mayweather.
While Bradley certainly did not put a beating on Marquez the way that Mayweather did, he did employ a Floyd-like strategy. Not in a long time, have we seen Bradley this defensively capable. Marquez missed badly all night, and even in the last rally, missed a 4-punch combination, while getting caught twice himself, and staggered. Marquez thinking he had won was laughable. He needed to do nothing more than listen to his own fans booing the scorecard that had him ahead. Not only do his fans not like Bradley, they are not particularly fond of the style he used to gain victory. So, if they are booing, you know you got beat. I have not seen that from a Mexican crowd since Whittaker boxed Chavez's ears off, and was denied.
Yet, Bradley's good luck with scorecards, and Marquez's bad luck, made it seem as if something might be amiss. The only thing wrong in my view was how two of the three judges had it close. One actually had Marquez ahead! I had Bradley winning 9 rounds, and although you can argue it was a bit closer, the only rounds Marquez won, were won because Bradley didn't do anything. Marquez was busy in certain spots, but was pretty much ineffective with everything he tried all night. His denial will delay his career, but this fight was more of a passing of the torch than anything either man achieved with Pacquiao.
Bradley is actually style-wise the best match for Floyd. We will never see it, because of business, which is tragic. As for Desert Storm, he may be headed for a Shane Mosley-esque existence.. which is still great... of being a hall of famer more respected for the guys you beat selling more tickets than you. However, he has re-earned the level of respect he had prior to his last two fights. Should Provodnikov defeat Alvarado, that rematch should be a certainty. There is also the Pacquiao-Rios winner. For Marquez, there is nowhere to go but retirement. However, fighters rarely go out like he went out with Bradley. Much like Mosley, or Holyfield, they lose competitively, which makes them think they can stick around for much longer than they should.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com