Not so super Devon Alexander vs Timothy Bradley
Super Fight poster from Don King Productions
Saturday evening, I’m all settled in to watch what just might be the fight of the century. The fighters enter the ring. There’s the venerable Don King alongside Michael Buffer. Buffer grabs the
microphone to do what he does best while King starts waving his itty-bitty flag.Buffer announces, “somebody’s ‘O’ has got to go.” I’m thinking, how prophetic! The match begins and instantaneously the two warriors are coming at each other and showing off their blinding speed. Without a doubt, this match has the makings of a great fight.
As each round passes, I’m starting to think to myself, wow, this match-up is getting to be boring. As far as great scrapers are concerned, these two are parrying as if they’re using fencing foils. They’re so meticulous it’s going to be difficult to decipher which boxer holds the upper hand. The crowd was looking for blood, or per chance a knockdown. Instead they’re getting multiple head butts and one of the closest bouts on record.
Almost every time the combatants throw a big punch, their heads are coming so very close. Near the end of the fight, it was like watching two bucks charge at each other to bang heads. The final head butt made contact on the top left eyebrow of Alexander’s face, but as TV viewers we saw Alexander complain to the ringside doctor about a preexisting cut above his right eye that he got in the third round. This development made it seem Alexander was looking for an excuse for a stoppage, a theory compounded by his decision to waive his five-minute rest period for the accidental foul.
Dr. Peter Samet, the assigned ring doctor stated later: “I asked Alexander to open his eye three times, but he couldn’t do it. I feared temporary nerve damage or temporary paralysis was preventing him from opening his eye, so I recommended to the referee that the contest be stopped.”
Do we believe Alexander’s claim, or are we to be suspect? All I know is the many viewers at home must be unhappy at how this played out. It’s certain the patrons in attendance at Detroit’s Pontiac Silver Dome were. We all heard the loud, “Bull s…!!!” cries coming from the crowd.
The people keeping track of the punch stats claimed Timothy Bradley landed all of one more punch than Devon Alexander (129-128) and since the last round lasted under a minute, that too exacerbated the situation as the judges had to award the same weight to the final round as they did to the prior nine.
To award Bradley the decision, the judges must have been influenced by his footwork and balance while striking and the power behind his punches. Though no one likes a close decision, this surely qualifies. At this point it doesn’t matter. Timothy Bradley won the WBC and WBO light welterweight titles and Devon Alexander went home empty handed.
That’s why they have undercards. Saturday night’s impressive undercard saved the day:
Bout #1
Julio Diaz stopped Pavel Miranda at 2:17 of the eighth round in a welterweight fight to win on TKO. Diaz (38-6-0, 26 KOs) used left uppercuts and right hands to overwhelm Miranda (16-7-1, eight KOs).
Bout #2
Detroit’s Darryl (the People’s Choice) Cunningham hammered his way to a unanimous decision over Alberto Mercedes in a super middleweight fight. Cunningham (22-2-0, 10 KOs) battered Mercedes (14-17-1, 10 KOs) of the Dominican Republic with left and rights, cutting him over the right eye.
Bout #3
It took 28 seconds for Julian Williams to knock out Alan Moore in a junior middleweight fight. Williams (5-0-0, 4 KOs) of Philadelphia showed no mercy on Moore (2-10-0, 2 KOs) of Indianapolis. Moore needs to hang up the gloves. He’s been the victim of a knockout in every bout except for one.
Bout #4
Welterweight Allen Conyers (12-4-0) of New York, surprised everyone by gaining an unanimous decision victory over the previously undefeated James De La Rosa (20-1-0, 12 KOs) of San Benito, Texas. Conyers knocked the highly touted and previously undefeated De La Rosa off his feet three times.
Bout #5
Welterweight Kendall Holt (26-4-0, 14 KOs), the former WBO junior welterweight champion, scored a TKO victory over Lenin Arroyo (20-15-1, 4 KOs). Holt leveled Arroyo at 1:50 of the first round.
Bout #6
Marcus Oliveira scored a unanimous decision against Detroit’s Demetrius Jenkins in a scrappy light heavyweight fight. Oliveira of Mayetta, Kan., is now 21-0-1 with 16 KOs; Jenkins is 21-18-1, 16 KOs.
Bout #7
By defeating Kertson Manswell (19-1, 15 KOs) of Trinidad and Tobago by KO in the second round, Bermane Stiverne (20-1-1, 19 KOs) of Miami, via Haiti, won the vacant WBC International and WBC USNBC title, plus the vacant WBA Fedelatin title.
Bout #8
They’re saying Detroit’s Vernon Paris may have gotten preferential treatment when he received the scores he did in his unanimous decision win over Emmanuel Augustus (38-34-6, 20 KOs) of Chicago in their junior welterweight fight. Paris (24-0, 14 KOs) looked strong early but faded towards the end.
