Tag: Timothy Bradley

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science

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Desert Stormed

Timothy Bradley (33-1-1 13 KO) wore down a poorly conditioned Brandon Rios (33-3-1 34 KO) and stopped him in the ninth on a series of body shots.

Bradley looked amazing, snapping straight right hands while exhibiting some of the best lateral movement he’s ever displayed. In addition, his defense was solid, hand speed elite and he utilized a side step-hook to the body combo beautifully on a few occasions. 

Rios landed a few shots with more than one getting Bradley’s attention but did little else. 

Bradley started to sit down on his punches in the seventh and in the ninth, buckled Rios to the canvas with a body shot. After Rios got up, Bradley attacked landing a hook to the body dropping Rios a second time. This time, Rios stayed down on a knee and waited to be counted out.

Bradley’s  speed was way too much. Rios will always find difficulty with lighting quick opponents.

No surprise really. Yes Rios had looked good defeating Mike Alvarado in January but Alvarado by his own admission was grossly unprepared and shouldn’t have been in the ring.

Before that, Diego Chaves gave Rios a tough go and and Manny Pacquiao flat out dominated him.  The signs of Rios’ decline have been present and the issues of his weight loss/gain only added to the problems.

Apparently, after barely not making weight then making it, Rios entered the ring on fight night in excess of 170. You could see the sluggishness impacting him each passing round as his rehydration plan backfired. After the fight Rios indicated he would retire.

Time for a public service announcement- alphabet soup, please get together and discuss the feasibility of same day weigh-ins or mandating limits for appropriate weight levels through rehydration.

Back to our regularly scheduled program-

Take nothing away from Bradley, he did what he was supposed to do. It was a very strong performance, just needs to be kept in perspective. 

The partnership with Teddy Atlas is off to a rousing start.

The Return Of The King-Painting Masterpieces Fight After Fight

WBO Featherweight Champion Vasyl Lomachenko (5-1 3 KO) is six fights into his pro career and can already be included in the top pound for pound fighter discussions. Vasyl, meaning “king”, arguably the greatest amatuer ever is begining to breakthrough to another level in the pros.

On Saturday night in true “Hi-Tech” fashion, the Ukrainian dominated Romulo Koasicha (25-5 15 KO) before stopping him in the tenth on a flurry of punches culminating with a left to the midsection followed by a thunderous shot to the ribs. Game,Set, Match.

While Koasicha is not a championship caliber opponent, he is a solid pro and Loma made him look like a sparring partner.

Lomachenko’s footwork was sensational. He glides effortlessly to and from his opponent always in the position to counter or move out of harm’s way only slightly having to absorb anything in return.  That’s not to say that he won’t be willing to take one to give one as he showed against Koasicha.

Lomachenko landed 64 % of his power punches according to Compubox.

“I was having fun in there if I wanted to knock him out earlier, I would have.” said Lomachenko

A matchup with Guillermo Rigondeaux would be amazing and we may see the best Lomachenko yet. 

Lomachenko is a master technician in the ring and puts on a performances utilizing a skill set like no other fighter today. If you love the sweetness of the science,  Lomachenko’s your man. 

Monaco Masher

Ruslan Provodnikov (25-4 18 KO) stopped Jesus Alvarez Rodriguez (14-1 11 KO) in the fourth round in Monaco.

Who? Ya, I know, not really a household name facing the former WBO junior welterweight champion. Infact, out of fourteen fights, Alvarez-Rodriguez had only faced one fighter with a winning record.

In the fourth round, Provodnikov stunned Rodriguez with a big right. Sensing he was hurt, Provodnikov attacked with a barrage dropping Rodriguez. Provodnikov finished the job as Rodriguez got up, dazing him again with another right and then dropping him again with a left hook. The referee had seen enough.

This was Provodnikov’s first fight with ex-Bradley trainer, Joel Diaz since leaving Freddie Roach and we saw some glimpses of boxing from the slugger.

Ruslan turned boxer – puncher would be a scary thought, just sayin.

Ted Talk -Ideas Worth Screaming

“Are you ready for the fire? We are firemen. WE ARE FIREMEN! The heat doesn’t bother us. We live in the heat. We train in the heat. It tells us that we’re ready, we’re at home, we’re where we’re supposed to be. Flames don’t intimidate us. What do we do? We control the flame. We control them. We move the flames where we want to. And then we extinguish them.” -Teddy Atlas to Timothy Bradley

Christmas Early

Canelo v. Cotto under three weeks away, nuff said.

Quick Peek At…Bradley v. Rios

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Interim and former WBO World welterweight and former WBC/WBO World super lightweight champion Timothy Bradley (32-1-1 12 KO) will knuckleup with former WBA world lightweight titlist Brandon Rios (33-2-1 24 KO) this Saturday night at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas live on HBO.

Rios will have about a two inch height advantage and Bradley a small reach advantage.

Bradley enters 1-1-1 in his last three; however his draw should have been a win. His last fight was a unanimous decision in June against Jessie Vargas; however not without a little drama.

Rios is 2-1 in his last three; however, one of his wins was a DQ. Rios was last in the office in January when he stopped Mike Alvarado in three.

Common opponents may provide a bit of clarity-

Manny Pacquiao-
Speed way too much for Rios while losing a close fight with Bradley that he most likely won and then in the rematch clearly outclassing Bradley.

Diego Chaves-
Gave Rios problems in a foul filled fest that the referee let get way out of control leading to the DQ. Split draw with Bradley in a bout Chaves clearly lost.

Lessons Learned Heading In-

Rios- In his last bout in January, Rios looked better than he had in years; however, how much was due to an opponent in Mike Alvarado who was battling addiction problems and had no business being in the ring? (See Standing-8 interview with Mike Alvarado)

Prior to Alvarado, Rios looked less than impressive against Chaves. He was plodding in his execution and looked to have lost his explosiveness.

Bradley- In his last bout in June, Bradley was comfortably winning an entertaining fight against Vargas; however, he was rocked in the twelfth round. The referee jumped in thinking he heard the bell which was actually the ten second indicator. Vargas thought the referee was stopping the fight and all chaos ensued.

What Does It All Mean?

Rios has the pop to repeat what Vargas did early and often; however it was clear in the Pacquiao and Chaves fight that Rios’ lateral movement and speed was diminished. He looked like he was reborn against Alvarado but again, Alvarado was a shell of himself due to his life outside of the ring. Take nothing away from Rios, it’s just hard to gauge exactly who the real Bam Bam is.

Bradley seems to be in a war every time he is in the ring. Quite frankly he makes his fights harder than they have to be. His fights are rough and tough and in Rios he will find a willing dance partner.

The deciding factor here is speed. Bradley should be able to make this a very easy fight with his speed and boxing ability. It will be interesting to see what a new trainer in Teddy Atlas will bring. If Teddy controls Bradley’s aggressiveness, has him box and then explode when the openings are there, this will be a one sided fight.

If Bradley fights similarly to what he has done in the past which is his version of rock em sock em robots, Rios will have plenty of chances. While Desert Storm has shown a great beard, he has shown glimpses of vulnerability at times; however with great recovery powers.

Outcome

Bradley by unanimous decision in an entertaining fight.

One caveat- If the fight is close, Bradley will not get the benefit of the doubt this time.

Who You Can’t Wait To See Again

1) Floyd Mayweather- Painting materpieces fight after fight, the canvas, his canvas. One of the best ever, nuff said.

2) Vasyl Lomachenko – Arguably the greatest amatuer in history, he has moved his talents seamlessly to the pro game. Beautiful to watch him work his craft.

3) Erislandy Lara- What he does is called the sweet science not boring as some as implied. Hit and don’t get hit is what it’s about.

4) Terence Crawford- Getting better and better with each fight. Not only does he have outstanding boxing skills , he can punch too.

5) Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero – This dude brings it fight in and fight out. He boxes beautifully but when he gets hit, all bets are off and the “warrior” comes out. A spiritual family man and one of the good guys in the game.

6) Roman Gonzalez- All action, all the time. Stud.

7) Andy Lee- Love his throwback style.

8) Timothy Bradley- You’re going to get a war every time out.

9) Amir Khan-Seems to be getting better with age.

10) Keith Thurman- “One-Time” can box or punch and is a student of the game.

11) Shawn Porter- Showtime is as tough as they come.

12) Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez- “Zurdo” is a rising star. A southpaw with size, skill, and power. Remember the name.