Timothy Bradley Blows out Lamont Peterson in the Desert - Ringside Boxing Report
By John Novoselac at ringside, Doghouse Boxing (Dec 13, 2009) Photo © German Villasenor, Doghouse Boxing  
The crowd gathered at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage outside of Palm Springs, California was decidedly in favor of the hometown fighter in Timothy Bradley. Bradley faced off with WBO interim titlist to determine who would walk away with the full junior welter title, and establish himself as the premier 140 pounder in the world.

There was no need for pretense in the first round. A big straight right hand by Bradley 2 minutes in set the tone, as the 2 fighters who know each other well ignored the feeling out process. Bradley tried to follow up, but slipped in his aggression. Peterson's corner repeatedly reminded him to stick the jab out, but Bradley's come forward style and pressure was rendering Peterson's boxing skills nearly null. The right hands just kept on coming as he stunned and hurt Peterson numerous times throughout the second.

With 2 minutes to go in the 3rd, Bradley sent Peterson down in what seemed like a slip off of a another right hand, though the replay later confirmed the referee's call. Lamont came back with a body attack, landing a barrage of shots to Bradley's chiseled torso to finish the round.

Bradley came out in round 4 with a body attack of his own, and the fight moved inside as a war erupted. Each combatant landed his share of shots, but the more aggressive Bradley looked to be wearing out his opponent. In the 5th, Peterson appeared to be finding his groove and some success.

Peterson continued moving forward in the 6th, and Bradley kept turning him and setting traps as he pasted Lamont with shot after shot. Peterson was doing better, but it wasn't better than Bradley. Timothy seemed to take a bit of a break in the 7th round, but continued to get the better of his opponent despite Peterson's corner urging him to not let Bradley take the round off.

In the 8th, the boundless energy of Bradley looked to dissipate a bit, but it re-emerged in the 9th, as the hometown fighter fought off the back foot and used a lot of ring intelligence turning and moving. The pace never slowed, as the superior conditioning of these 2 world class athletes showed round after round. Peterson kept coming, and landed some nice rights behind the double jab his corner had been so passionately pleading for.

Going into the championship rounds, Lamont and his corner knew he needed a knockout to win. Bradley wanted to box. A tremendous overhand right from Bradley with 15 seconds to go in the 11th ignited the crowd, as they urged their fighter on.

Bradley's bobbing and weaving fan pleasing style was on full display in the 12th, as Lamont kept on keeping on looking for the knockout. Face swelling and a nasty looking left eye be damned, Lamont persevered, and the 2 exchanged brutal shots in the final 10 seconds to close out a thrilling fight. This was a fight fan's fight, and these 2 delivered in tremendous fashion with pugilistic pleasure certain to excite even the most discriminant observer.

Scores were 118-110, 119-108, and 120-107 all in favor of Timothy Bradley. He captured the full WBO junior welterweight title with this excellent performance, and established him as the best fighter at 140.

Bradley said, 'He came out and made me fight like no one ever had. He's a tough tough fighter. This was a great night for me and a great night for the fans.'

Afterward Bradley said, 'I think experience played a real big role. He had the right game plan, but he got a little careless when he rushed in there instead of following his jab. I felt my conditioning was superior. He did what he was supposed to do to try and break me down. but my conditioning was superior. I was a little gassed in the 7th, but got my second wind in the 9th.'

In regards to his next fight, Bradley offered, 'Whoever they want me to fight, I don't care where I have to go. Regarding Peterson, the classy champ said, 'He'll be a world champion some day.'

Questions or comments,
e-mail
John at: jnovoselac@yahoo.com

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