| 29 January 2011
The debut of HBO's World Championship Boxing for 2011 is a good one. The Silverdome near Detroit is the setting as undefeated Americans Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley do battle for 140-pound bragging rights and two titles.
Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward are on hand to call the action. Lampley mentions that even the general sports media has recognized the significance of the fight, as more writers and correspondents are on hand than usual.
A video package narrated by Lampley gives us a little more background on both fighters. Though they grew up in different places, they have some similarities in personality, and both men are confident without being cocky.
Back in the arena, Steward gives his view on how the fight will unfold. Steward thinks Alexander's speed will give him the early edge, but Bradley will come on in the middle rounds to make things exciting in the late rounds.
The tale of the tape shows Alexander two inches taller and four pounds heavier on fight night. There's no difference in reach.
Since both fighters are champions, there was a coin toss to see who would walk out first. Bradley lost, so he makes the first ring walk. The 27-year old is 26-0 with 11 KOs.
Alexander comes out second, sporting a St. Louis Cardinals hat as usual. He is 21-0 with 13 stoppage victories.
Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports reports that the announced attendance is 6,247. Michael Buffer is on hand to do his world famous ring introductions. Both men look ready, and we are all set for a scheduled 12 rounds of boxing for the WBC and WBO light welterweight titles.
Round 1
Both men start out with quick jabs. Alexander has his hands a little higher. Bradley goes to the body before they tie up. Alexander scores with a quick combo. Nice hook by Devon is answered in kind. Bradley steps forward to throw more body shots. Both men look very quick. Alexander is quick to tie up as Bradley gets in close, and even though Devon lands a hook, Bradley unloads with a flurry along the ropes.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Bradley
Round 2
Alexander feints to try to create openings. Bradley goes to work with body shots and light head shots along the ropes. He's making the fight a bit ugly when it gets to close range. The ref warns them about wrestling and head butts. Bradley comes forward again as Alexander tries to dissuade him. Not as many clean punches landed in this frame.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Bradley
Round 3
Both men land early on. Bradley tries to turn it into a scrap, and he connects with a hard left hook. Devon digs in and tries to respond in kind. Alexander fires hooks with both hands. The ref wants both fighters to get their body shots up. Tim manages to sneak a hook in, but the ref gives Alexander a brief break because he says he got a thumb in the eye. Devon also looks to have a cut near his right eye.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Bradley
Round 4
Replays show the cut was clearly caused by a head butt, which made Alexander's corner pretty upset. Things have picked up to begin this round. Bradley is making Alexander uncomfortable by keeping the pressure up at all times. Devon lands a nice combo with his back to the ropes. Bradley tries to work the body as his foe pivots out to the middle of the ring. Both men land hooks before the ref breaks them up. More connects both ways in the final 20 seconds.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Bradley
Round 5
Harold Lederman has Bradley up three rounds to one. Both men do some work on the inside, but Bradley looks more comfortable at that range. Bradley just misses a big right hook. Alexander is finding the range with more straight left hands. Lampley thinks he's also controlling the range and pace better. Bradley isn't letting his hands go quite as often in this round. Alexander keeps trying to flurry right up to the bell.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Alexander
Round 6
Bradley opens up with a quick combination. He's doing more chasing as Alexander tries to fight off the ropes. Bradley fires a right hand up the middle. They trade single shots, then lean on each other. Bradley scores with a quick right hook as Alexander backs away. There's another clean right hand by Desert Storm. Alexander bounces back with a left-right combo that lands pretty clean.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Bradley
Round 7
Nothing significant lands in the first 60 seconds. Bradley opens up with a flurry but nothing lands flush. Alexander pops a left hand before clinching. He's moving and sticking with the left. Bradley tries to come over the top, but he's forced to cover up as Alexander fires away. Nice right hook by Devon during an exchange.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Alexander
Round 8
Both fighters attempt early flurries. Merchant mentions that neither man has been as impressive as they had hoped so far. Bradley lands a nice right hand that forces a clinch. Alexander gets him off balance for a second with a hook. Clean punches connect in both directions, though neither boxer looks hurt. The ref halts things for a second because of an Alexander head butt. Devon looks a little more active, but Bradley lands the last good punch. Tough round to score.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Bradley
Round 9
Bradley lands two good right hand sandwiched around a left by Alexander. The ref warns for holding at close range. Bradley scores with another right hand along the ropes. Alexander doesn't have a reliable answer for that at the moment. Devon tries to get his feet moving but his opponent isn't giving him much breathing room.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Bradley
Round 10
CompuBox has the number of punches landed almost even. Bradley scrambles and lands short punches while he moves. They come together, and a big clash of heads occurs. The fight is stopped while the doctor attends to Devon's eyes. The crowd is getting a bit restless during the break. It looks like the fight is going to be stopped, and we'll go to the cards because it was ended due to an accidental head butt. Lederman reminds us that the tenth round has to be scored as well, even though it only went a couple of seconds.
Tylwalk: 10-9 Bradley
Tylwalk: 98-92 Bradley
The judges score it 97-93, 96-95 and 98-93, all to the winner by unanimous technical decision... and now the unified WBC and WBO light welterweight titleholder... Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley.
Bradley tells Merchant he didn't think the fight would end this way, but he admits that the stances and styles of the two combatants could lead to head butts. He gives Alexander credit for being a great fighter, but he doesn't know why Devon couldn't continue.
Asked if he needed to be the aggressor, Bradley says he could not sit back because Alexander would box him to pieces.
Bradley thinks he'd like to fight Amir Khan the most, but he's willing to take on Marcos Maidana or anyone the fans want to see. He does have Manny Pacquiao in his sights down the road.
Turning to the loser, Merchant asks Alexander about the head butt. Devon says he has never been hit that hard by someone's head, and his eye felt like it was burning.
Alexander doesn't want to make excuses but does say he has butted about a half dozen times. He's also willing to fight Khan, Maidana or anyone else offered to him.
Merchant doesn't think we need to see that fight again and any hopes of Bradley fighting Pacquiao in the near future aren't realistic. Larry says there is a void in the American consciousness for a great boxing champion, but this fight didn't help fill it.
