Tough Night All Around – Bradley beats Vargas

By Paul Strauss - 06/28/2015 - Comments

Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley Jr., 32-1-1 (12KO) the favorite, did what was expected. He pounded out a unanimous decision over the until then unbeaten Jessie Vargas 26-1-0 (9KO). All too often the 5′ 10″ Vargas gave up his four inch height advantage. He allowed Bradley to control the distance and land his own jab and just out work him. Neither man is a big puncher, so neither man was in serious trouble until the last round. That is when the fun started Saturday night at the StubHub Center, Carson, CA.

With under twenty-seconds left in the fight, Bradley got careless and in the middle of an exchange, he dropped his guard. At just about that precise moment Vargas was uncorking a big right hand. He had everything behind it and when it landed on Bradley’s jaw, the force of the punch drove Bradley backward like a VW Bug in a head-on with an SUV. How the little man was able to keep his feet only he knows. Vargas tried to jump on him in hopes of finishing him, but Bradley had instinct enough to block a few of the hard shots and then grab on and hold for dear life.

It was at that moment the diminutive referee Pat Russell proceeded to do his job and break the two men from their clinch. Since Bradley was the one in trouble, Russell stepped in with his back to him. It appeared Russell was about to tell Vargas to step back, and then out of the blue he waived his hands back and forth and said, primarily to Vargas, that the fight was over. As Mike Tyson would say, Vargas was “estatic” (sic). He couldn’t believe it. To him and his corner, he had won the fight, a TKO victory over one of the divisions elite fighters.

Up until those closing seconds, Pat Russell had done a very good job, as he normally does.
But, at this chaotic moment, he was scampering around telling everyone “I thought the bell rang”! He made a point of telling each of the three judges and the time keeper of his error. Finally when things settled down to a manageable level, the scores were announced.
Kermit Bayless scored it 115-112, Max DeLuca 116-112, and Rocky Young 117-112 all for Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley Jr.

In the post fight interviews, it was no surprise to hear the fighters say what was in their best interest. Over the replay on the last seconds, Bradley pointed out that he was blocking punches and then had the good sense to clinch. He said after referee Pat Russell broke them, he grabbed and held on again until the remaining seconds ticked off. Vargas of course said he was deprived of possibly ending the fight on a knockout.

Hence, how do you resolve such an unfortunate circumstance? A rematch of course. Both men seemed eager to do so. Vargas lost his undefeated status, so it would be in his best interest to have a rematch. Of the two men, Vargas would seem to have more room to improve. His new trainer, Erik Morales, pleaded with him to manage distance better. He wanted him to use reach and height advantage by jabbing and throwing combinations from his distance, thereby depriving Bradley the ability to counter effectively.

Vargas never got in the grove. He neither jabbed enough, nor threw enough combinations. He allowed Bradley to close in and pound him with a variety of punches. Vargas did get in his own body attack, but Bradley controlled the action and outworked Vargas. Even a knock down in the final round would not have been enough. Concerning the rematch, Bradley doesn’t need it. He beat Vargas and it’s very doubtful even without referee Pat Russell’s error that Vargas could have won. In other words, odds are Russell’s mistake didn’t cost Vargas the fight.