This weekend's stand out bout, by far, takes place in the US as future Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40) looks to claim another world title. In Marquez's way is unbeaten American Timothy Bradley (30-0-0-1, 12) the reigning and defending WBO Welterweight champion and a man with a point to prove after 2 successive bouts in which he was "fortunate"to win.
For Bradley, a talented all rounder, this is a big chance to answer some serious questions. With out a doubt he was given the benefit of the doubt against Manny Pacquiao and he was also lucky to survive, never mind get the victory over Ruslan Provodnikov last time out. Whilst he showed great heart in both of those fights he also took a lot of damage and may never be the same fighter either physically or mentally.
Prior to those two fights Bradley was on or around the fringes of the "pound-for-pound" lists. It wasn't that he had any great qualities in terms of speed, or power though his will to win and never say die attitude was second to none. He had a great heart and amazing conditioning and it was often this that helped him see out some really bad issues.
Whilst that all sounds incredibly negative the flipside was that Bradley also didn't have any clear weaknesses. It was difficult to to have Bradley rating less than 7/10 on anything, other than perhaps power. His speed isn't amazing, but it is good, his skills are good, his power makes fighters respect him, his movement is solid, his combinations are solid.
Whilst Bradley was lucky to beat Pacquiao many feel that Mexican Marquez is unfortunate not to have 4 wins over the Filipino superstar. Saying that however Marquez did finally get a definitive victory over "The Pacman" last time out when he left Pacquiao unconscious in after an eye catching KO.
Like Bradley, Marquez is viewed in, or around, the pound-for-pound list. Unlike Bradley however Marquez has had a bit more of a hard luck career. He lost on his debut back in 1993 after being disqualified, having been forced to wait 3 years for his debut, he would later lose, albeit controversially to Freddie Norwood, Chris John, Manny Pacquiao twice-both time controversially, and Floyd Mayweather Jr with only the Mayweather loss being a clear one.
Marquez is one of the sports true technicians. He's now 40 years old but has perfected the art of being an offensive counter puncher who, like Bradley, refuses to just lose. He's tough, throws beautiful combinations, has hurtful power which can be concussive when he lands clean and has unexpectedly good hand speed.
Whilst Marquez is a great technical boxer he does have his weaknesses. He's not the fastest of starters, he's not the most active in the ring and he's also a long way from being a natural Welterweight, though he did fill out to an impressive 143lbs for his most recent bout.
At their respective primes it'd be next to impossible to back Bradley against Marquez. Aged 40 however Marquez is no longer the clear favourite, though I do tend to favour him slightly. Bradley refuses to be stopped and although he's solid in every category I can't hep but feel that Marquez will manage to do whats needed to just take a very, very hard fought decision.
Prediction-Marquez SD12
Showing posts with label Timothy Bradley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Timothy Bradley. Show all posts
Friday, 11 October 2013
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Timothy Bradley v Ruslan Provodnikov
This weekend American WBO Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (29-0-0-1, 12) will look to make the first defense of his title as he faces the exciting to watch but limited Ruslan Provodnikov (22-1, 15). This will in fact be the first time either man has fought since June 2012, the month that Bradley claimed a controversial decision over Manny Pacquiao and Provodnikov beat Jose Reynoso in 2 rounds.
Although Bradley's result over Pacquiao was highly criticised the unbeaten "Desert Storm" is a genuine top 10 pound-for-pound fighter on his own merit. Aged 29 the tenacious California native has claimed the WBO Light Welterweight title, the WBC Light Welterweight title (twice)and the WBO Welterweight title. As well as hit title collection he has scored notable wins over Miguel Vazquez, Junior Witter, Kendall Holt, Lamont Peterson, Devon Alexander, Joel Casamayor and of course Pacquiao. A genuine who's who if we're being honest.
In terms of style Bradley is, as mentioned above, tenacious. He looks like he's been carved out of stone and is both physically and mentally strong. He's a fighter who does a number of very under-rated things, in fact his ability to slip punches, as he showed against Pacquiao (who landed a lot less than Jim Lampley thought) is almost forgotten. He likes to come forward and be in an opponents face (often causing head clashes) whilst throwing accurate and moderately fast punches for 12 rounds whilst using his feet well to move in and out of range as well as around an opponent. His biggest real issue is his relative lack of power when compared to the rest of his skill set. It's not as if Bradley fights like Miguel Vazquez using his jab and moving constantly, but instead he often gets in to the trenches and goes for it.
Since first fighting at the world level back in 2008 Bradley only has a solitary TKO on his record and that was over a faded Joel Casamayor in 2011. Despite this he has been able to drop fighters on a regular basis including Witter, Edner Cherry, Peterson and Casamayor though was only able to finish off Casamayor.
Whilst Bradley is a proven world class fighter Provodnikov has yet to fight at this level. In fact Provodnikov has so far been making his name on ESPN Friday Night Fights where he has proven to be a popular, though somewhat limited, warrior. He's got a reputation as being tough as old boots, like Bradley and an aggressively minded fighter (also like Bradley) but lacing finesse in the ring and instead relying on his brute strength and work rate to try and over come opponents.
Often Provodnikov has managed to hide his deficiencies thanks to the weak level of opponents he has been facing including the shell of Emmanuel Augustus, a very shop worn DeMarcus Corley and an old Javier Jauregui. In his only loss (which some feel he should have won) Provodniov was taken 12 rounds by the teak tough Mauricio Herrera who has since proven to be a very credible "B" level fighter with hard fought decision losses to Mike Alvarado and Karim Mayfield as well as a victory over Mike Dallas Jr.
Although Provodnikov is very strong and very tough he has the facial features that mark up very easily and if, as I expect, he decides to fight Bradley head on, he could end up being very marked up very early on. Bradley's head has a knack of cutting others and with the punches also flying I think Provodnikov will end up being warrior who gets stopped against his wishes despite his face being a mess.
Prediction-Bradley TKO10
Although Bradley's result over Pacquiao was highly criticised the unbeaten "Desert Storm" is a genuine top 10 pound-for-pound fighter on his own merit. Aged 29 the tenacious California native has claimed the WBO Light Welterweight title, the WBC Light Welterweight title (twice)and the WBO Welterweight title. As well as hit title collection he has scored notable wins over Miguel Vazquez, Junior Witter, Kendall Holt, Lamont Peterson, Devon Alexander, Joel Casamayor and of course Pacquiao. A genuine who's who if we're being honest.
In terms of style Bradley is, as mentioned above, tenacious. He looks like he's been carved out of stone and is both physically and mentally strong. He's a fighter who does a number of very under-rated things, in fact his ability to slip punches, as he showed against Pacquiao (who landed a lot less than Jim Lampley thought) is almost forgotten. He likes to come forward and be in an opponents face (often causing head clashes) whilst throwing accurate and moderately fast punches for 12 rounds whilst using his feet well to move in and out of range as well as around an opponent. His biggest real issue is his relative lack of power when compared to the rest of his skill set. It's not as if Bradley fights like Miguel Vazquez using his jab and moving constantly, but instead he often gets in to the trenches and goes for it.
Since first fighting at the world level back in 2008 Bradley only has a solitary TKO on his record and that was over a faded Joel Casamayor in 2011. Despite this he has been able to drop fighters on a regular basis including Witter, Edner Cherry, Peterson and Casamayor though was only able to finish off Casamayor.
Whilst Bradley is a proven world class fighter Provodnikov has yet to fight at this level. In fact Provodnikov has so far been making his name on ESPN Friday Night Fights where he has proven to be a popular, though somewhat limited, warrior. He's got a reputation as being tough as old boots, like Bradley and an aggressively minded fighter (also like Bradley) but lacing finesse in the ring and instead relying on his brute strength and work rate to try and over come opponents.
Often Provodnikov has managed to hide his deficiencies thanks to the weak level of opponents he has been facing including the shell of Emmanuel Augustus, a very shop worn DeMarcus Corley and an old Javier Jauregui. In his only loss (which some feel he should have won) Provodniov was taken 12 rounds by the teak tough Mauricio Herrera who has since proven to be a very credible "B" level fighter with hard fought decision losses to Mike Alvarado and Karim Mayfield as well as a victory over Mike Dallas Jr.
Although Provodnikov is very strong and very tough he has the facial features that mark up very easily and if, as I expect, he decides to fight Bradley head on, he could end up being very marked up very early on. Bradley's head has a knack of cutting others and with the punches also flying I think Provodnikov will end up being warrior who gets stopped against his wishes despite his face being a mess.
Prediction-Bradley TKO10
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