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Timothy Bradley Vs Devon Alexander: The Super Fight Approaches

By Gina L. Caliboso

On Saturday, January 29th, two undefeated boxers will face one another for bragging rights within the light welterweight division.

Devon Alexander, 21-0, 13 KO’s will fight Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, 26-0, 11 KO’s, with the WBC and WBO Light Welterweight titles on the line. I knew it was only a matter of time before the light welterweight division would finally allow itself a shakeup.

Bradley is currently ranked #1, followed by WBA Champion, Amir “King” Khan, 24-1, 17 KO’s, ranked at #2, and then #3 ranked Alexander. It’s a shakeup to say the least, only because Bradley and Alexander will probably have to face each other again. And, I think Khan will face either Bradley or Alexander at some point this year as well.

If you look at both Bradley and Alexander, both fighters have had the good luck and even skill to have fairly similar records. But it’s been only recently that they have really had to develop and grow as boxers in their last bouts.

Ah, the wonders of the DVR – I still had Bradley’s and Alexander’s last bouts recorded. Here’s just an inkling of what I observed and also just what might happen once the two go up against one another.

First and foremost, Alexander is a southpaw. Bradley would have to make necessary adjustments to make sure he isn’t in a direct line to a power shot. Physically, Alexander has a height and a reach advantage. Alexander stands at 5’7 with a 71 inch reach. Bradley stands at 5’6 with 69 inch reach.

As far as strength goes, I give the edge to Bradley. As I’m starting to really look at the fighters, I find myself flip flopping in boxing traits and statistics. Physical analysis can only mean so much. Southpaws, still in my opinion, just always manage to make their opponents look awkward. Bradley will have to really stand and fight to take the fight away from Alexander.

In his last bout against Luis Carlos Abregu, 29-1, 23 KO’s, Bradley started the fight strong. He’s physically just a strong fighter and he can definitely bully his opponents, but his KO record speaks to looking for that one punch.

He’s definitely not a single, power punch boxer that looks for the KO. Bradley fights fairly consistently over 12 rounds, with the opening 3 rounds really showing effective combinations and power punches. However, because he does look for the single KO punch, his counter punching isn’t always as good and he can get caught looking ineffective.

Bradley must also just relax in his punching and put together more fluid punch combinations and counters. He has a good jab in combination and fights well in the middle of the ring.

As for Alexander, he has excellent hand speed as well as a better jab. Back in August, Alexander fought against Andriy Kotelnik, 31-4, 13 KO’s, in defense of both the WBC & IBF Light Welterweight titles. With his bout against Bradley, the IBF title is now vacated with a title bout set up for Zab Judah, 40-6, 27 KO’s, versus Kaizer Mabuza, 23-6, 14 KO’s.

Against Kotelnik, Alexander earned the 12 round unanimous decision, but not without blood. Alexander had suffered a cut over his right eye as the result of a headbutt. So, both Bradley and Alexander will hopefully avoid the clash of heads that may result in a TKO.

Similar to Bradley, however, as much as Alexander is a quick starter, he started to get tagged a little bit more frequently once Kotelnik opened up the middle and started to fight inside followed by a flurry of punches to both the head and body. Alexander started to lose steam, including his jab, after the 8th round or so.

Alexander will need to train and fight for a 12 round fight.

With the recent emergence of Amir Khan and Zab Judah, the light welterweight division is filled with potential match-ups. I like Khan’s presence in the division because once he really starts to open up with his jab, he could be a fierce competitor. Khan is the current WBA Light Welterweight titleholder and with a potential match in April this year. I am very curious to see who will be Khan’s opponent.

Judah, by contrast, has always been a strong, solid boxer with good hand speed as well. And, should he emerge as the new IBF titleholder, both Bradley and Alexander may have some thinking to do about potential opponents.

I hope the bout between Bradley and Alexander will be a good one. If both Bradley and Alexander only look for the one punch, it just might be a very boring fight. Should they decide to exchange on the inside, there is the possibility of a bloody clash of heads. But the more I keep thinking about what I observed in their last bouts, Bradley and Alexander really do need to fight one another and put their undefeated records and titles on the line.

Now, I know I mentioned Khan and Judah, but really, whoever loses, neither Bradley nor Alexander will have to look very far for any future opponents. I’m sure this will be the first of many exchanges between both fighters – can we say Bradley vs. Alexander 2?

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