Bradley defeats Provodnikov in a war!

Exciting, thrilling, dramatic, and any other statement that you can think of, would be an understatement in describing the fight between Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. They were bloody, they were battered, and it looked like a scene out of a Rocky movie. In what surely is going to end up as a Fight of the Year candidate, Bradley (30-0, 9 KO’s) defeated Provodnikov by scores of 114-113, 114-113, and 115-112. Both corners were close to stopping the fight, Tim Bradley was out on his feet at least three separate times, and was dropped with ten seconds left in the final round. However, with all that against him, Bradley withstood the onslaught and managed to win the rounds that Provodnikov took off to lead his way to a victory.

Bradley took shots that no man should take. He dug deep, fought hard, and all the pain that he had felt since the Pacquiao fight seemed to disappear as he showed what it’s like for a true warrior to face adversity.

After Provodnikov buried Bradley with bombs in the first two rounds it seemed as though it was going to be a short night for the undefeated champion. Bradley was staggering, he was hurt, and after the fight he said that he thought he got a concussion in the first couple rounds. Provodnikov looked to be on his way to a knockout. However, the knockout never came.

Surviving the first two rounds, Bradley began to establish the jab, use the ring to his advantage, and box his way around Provodnikov. But when the sixth round came Bradley found himself hurt again and fighting for his boxing life as Provodnikov came after him for the kill. Once again it would take an extreme amount of heart for Bradley to survive. Bradley, tired and hurt, came out in the seventh and used his superior boxing skills to keep Provodnikov at bay. Those rounds between the seventh through the eleventh is what most likely gave Bradley the win as he boxed circles around Provodnikov using his jab and quick punches to keep Provodnikov away from him.

When the 12^th round hit, the fight had already catapulted into the leader for the 2013 Fight of the Year. Drama would hit again as Provodnikov hurt Bradley with one minute left, and made him take a knee with only ten seconds left in the fight. In the end, Provodnikov didn’t do enough to win the fight.

Timothy Bradley improved to 30-0 and hopefully put all the disdain from the aftermath of the Pacquiao fight behind him. He showed the heart of a warrior, and that he can bang with the hardest hitters there are. He showed a granite chin. It was a statement win that will most likely get him a huge fight after this. For the people that weren’t fans of Tim Bradley after the Pacquiao fight, they will think twice after watching Saturday night’s performance. If there is one thing that he showed it was that he deserves to be champion. He deserves to be talked about as one of the best welterweights in this era. He deserves the big fights that he has wanted his entire career