Timothy Bradley-Devon Alexander: Starting the New Year Right
By Idris “Drees” Newton
The 140s are the new 147s. After a very gutsy performance by Amir “King” Khan in which he displayed some sharp body punching that “Wrecking balled” Maidana late in round one (body punching that eluded him late) and a newly fortified beard that stood up to some hellacious over-hand rights from Marcos Renee Maidana that left “King” Khan reeling from punishment throughout the 10th round we now anticipate what may be the biggest fight of the new year.
Devon Alexander “The Great” & Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, these two have steadily ascended to the top of the division tallying victories over junior welterweight stalwarts like Juan Urango and Kendal Holt, they both looked dominant against unorthodox Brit Junior Witter who looked like an amateur against both. WHAT A FIGHT, it has all the makings of Oscar De La Hoya/Shane Mosley 1!
It’s a must see, pay per view status (for a boxing fanatic like me at least). This and fight’s to come like this have opened the dialogue about the Super Lightweight class as a premier attraction, boasting not four but, five fighters with the ability to become top “Dawg” (Randy Jackson) and stay there.
Okay enough with the preface.
Who is ready for a unification bout between fighters now known as number 1(“Desert Storm” Bradley) and 1-A (Alexander “The Great”) in what is now the most exciting and drama filled division. Uh, me, who wouldn’t be excited about all the new developments in this weight class. They have a make shift Super Six tournament in progress with the actual best guys of the weight class. Not just a bunch of names just to draw attention.
With only one fight left in stage one let us all begin salivating after what is going to be the best fight of the previous two(see Victor Ortiz/Lamont Peterson), and that is saying something considering what a cataclysm Maidana/Khan turned out to be.
Let’s not forget that all these guys are doing this when they should do it, when they are all in their prime. No “Grumpier Old Men” (Bernard Hopkins/Roy Jones JR.)
Each one of these gladiators possess the skills you need to command a fight as these two have shown over and over in the past, like quick hands, more than adequate lateral motion and intelligent punch placement. Couple those attributes with battle tested heart and stamina and you have a guaranteed war of attrition with the sort of violent ebb and flow an “Itchy & Scratchy” fan couldn’t help but appreciate.
The “Desert Storm” will enter the ring on the back of an authoritative victory over Luis Carlos Abregu, in a fight where Bradley exhibited an array of power punches that seem to leave Abregu stunned. Befogging his opponent seemingly every second of every round, Timothy went big right for big left all night and the calculated risk paid off in neck snapping, crowd wowing sequences that more times than not addled Abregu’s chances of coming on at the end. If he is accompanied by this new found power when he meets Devon on January 29th in Pontiac, Mich. it’s going to be a jarring night where Devon’s belt is jarred from his waist and awarded to its new owner.
Alexander “The Great” is riding the wave of a closely contested W over Andriy “Rose Bush” Kotelnik (He is difficult in the ring), where he demonstrated some real toughness in what was an unattractive “Shrek” of a fight. In his defense (which was exposed by the way) there aren’t many who’ve had what you might call a masterful outing against Kotelnik whose claim to fame is being quite the officious stepping stone making two(Alexander, Maidana) of the last three top guys he’s faced look less than stellar.
Alexander’s saving grace is that defense is not really a hot commodity in this brawler/boxing era so he needn’t be too concerned about a disadvantageous guard when facing the more than occasionally wild swinging Bradley who will almost always render himself helpless to stop those extremely extirpating Alexander upper cuts.
I see the fight starting fast with Bradley leading the way as he is notoriously excited at the opening bell, in the past he was infamous for swaying back and forth frantically like some sort of manic. In resent fights he has been more assertive in concentrating his energizer batter into a more calm looking yet active approach.
Alexander will try to establish the jab looking to set up his offense while backing up routinely trying to create distance. At that point Bradley will begin to institute his heavily body oriented attack, which should be effective against an Alexander that looked winded in the Kotelnik fight where he absorbed very little body damage.
Incidentally, if Alexander wants to win this fight, he needs to employ the Lamont Peterson digging body attack/in fighting gambit that seemed to work, stifling Bradley’s punches. But it is his lack of inside game that will be the basis upon which he is defeated. Bradley’s motor should be superior that night as is habitually the case and that spells disaster in the late rounds when Alexander has normally faded.
Bradley should emerge triumphant from a faceoff of two of the undefeated, young, talented, destined for greatness, hot streaking, you get it feel free to insert your own hyperbole. I’ll be watching and I hope you will be as well.
I’ve got a feeling it will be one of the greats.