Bradley out works Peterson to score a one-sided but exciting Unanimous Decision

“My game plan was to win the first round,” said Peterson afterward. “In the middle of the first round, I got hit real hard with a couple right hands. It really bothered me and I lost the round. I fell behind. I got reckless. I couldn’t make it up. I gave it all I had. He’s a great champion. I thought Tim Bradley fought a great fight.”

In the third, Peterson started working up and down to the body and head of Bradley. But the young champion responded well to each and every time he got hit and answered back. As they came in close, Peterson worked well to the body while Bradley moved side to side and placed his jab and right hand well, rocking Peterson. As Peterson tried to dip under a left hook, Bradley came back with a right that caught Peterson high on the head and dropped him. Peterson rose quickly but seemed a bit unsteady as Bradley jumped on him but survived the round.

Peterson responded well in the fourth as both men met at center ring and brought the action inside. Peterson let his hands go in combination but Bradley came right back. Left hook by Peterson inside, right hand answer from Bradley. Back and forth they traded down the stretch of the Peterson’s best round to that point.

Bradley came storming back in the next stanza, moving side to side, working his jab from the outside and slipping in a right over the top of Peterson’s single jabs. Peterson tried to close the distance but Bradley had clearly prepared an entirely different game plan than expected and was a puzzle not to be solved all night long.

Despite Bradley sweeping the middle rounds, Peterson was game. He never quit, never gave quarter, and never stopped trying. To classify the fight, it was a close, one sided affair as. What the fight came down to was Bradley’s experience and game planning vs. Peterson’s will and heart with experience and smarts winning out.

As the fight wore on, Peterson began to warm into the action, landing hard shots on the inside and finding a home for his left hook. Bradley changed up throughout; working from the outside with lefts and right hands, ripping hooks and uppercuts inside. Peterson came on strong late, increasing his intensity and output as the rounds got later and later. Down the stretch, it appeared Peterson might be able to pull the win out. He started to land with more frequency when they met on the inside but Bradley showed why he is a champion with scalps like Kendal Holt, Junior Witter, and Nate Campbell on his resume. For every punch Peterson landed, Bradley came back with an answer and never gave ground all the way down to the last bell.

“[Peterson] came out and made me fight the way no fighter has ever, ever made me fight,” said Bradley. “He’s a tough, tough fighter. This was a great fight for me and a great fight for the fans. He tried to break me down and I felt a little gassed in the seventh round. But I got my second wind in the eighth and ninth round and I was able to out box him.”

“He had me nervous,” said Bradley. ‘The game plan was to bring it to him and he brought it to me.

 Bradley added, smiling at Peterson, “Nice body shots by the way.”

What the future holds for Bradley is uncertain. The hope is for a showdown with Amir Khan early next year. For Peterson, it’s back to the drawing board. The consensus at ringside from Bradley to the writers to the promoters is that Peterson showed the heart and will of a champion and will be one sometime soon.


In the co-feature, Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan (33-2-1 with 27 KOs) reclaimed the WBC title held in an interim fashion by Tomas Rojas (32-12-1 with 22 KOs) with a spectacular second round knockout. Rojas was game ana dcraft but got careless late and it cost him dearly.

The action was tentative early as the southpaw Rojas, a rangy 5’8” fighter boxed from the outside and kept the 5’ 3” Darchinyan at bay with his jab and left hand. Darchinyan, coming off a loss at 118 pounds and returning to 115 , looked a little tight as he stalked and waited for opportunity to score with bombs early on. Rojas looked solid as he scored often and even caught Darchinyan coming in with a left that sent Vic through the ropes.

But late in the second round, after Rojas scored big with a rear left hook. Rojas smiled and waved Vic in, dipped to his left and at ea left hand that laid him out under the ropes as the ref counted him out at 2:54 of the second round.  

“I was doing what I was supposed to do,” said Rojas. “I was boxing. I got careless and I never saw the punch that landed. Never saw it.”

“I took my time and I let the knockout come to me, said Darchinyan. “He was hitting me with more punches but I was hitting him with more power. It was only a matter of time before he felt my power.”

What lies ahead for Darchinyan is hopefully a long awaited rematch with the man who handed him first loss, Nonito Donaire. Promoter Gary Shaw and Bob Arum will meet sometime soon and hopefully give the fans what they have been clamoring for.

Questions/comments? Email Gabriel @ maxgmontoya@gmail.com or follow him on twitter at twitter.com/Gabriel_montoya