On December 13th, 2014, Timothy Bradley returned to the ring following his first professional loss in Pacquiao vs Bradley II. His opponent Diego Chaves, an often underrated fighter but certainly renowned rule-breaker, was considered no easy comeback fight, but winnable for Bradley.
One of Bradley’s most marketable features is that you never know who he is going to morph into once the fight gets underway. Sometimes he’s a boxer, sometimes a brawler. That night at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, it was the latter, and it served him well as he went toe-to-toe with Chaves from the tail end of the 1st to the final round.
Despite arguably landing the cleaner punches, and demonstrating a superior inside-fighting skill set, the judges somehow scored the contest a Split Draw. This is a huge shame, and yes, another unnecessary low blow to the sport of boxing. Official scorecards came in at 115-113, 112-116, 114-114. BoxingBase.com had the bout at 116-112 for Bradley.
Some rounds were close, it has to be said, but it just seemed like the more quality work came from Bradley, who was also more elusive and landed some effective overhand-counters in the early quarter when fighting on the outside. Though he wasn’t able to hurt Chaves, his close-quarter body and head shots had the higher connect rate. (Bradley vs Chaves Highlights)
Despite the night’s disappointing outcome, it’s likely Bradley will still find himself headlining another arena in his next fight – or at least fighting against a big name in a chief support bout. That night was no loss, and hopefully it will be reflected in the quality of his next opponent.
As for Chaves, it’s hard to say. Given his all-action, fan-friendly style, he will continue to find himself on televised bouts, where he could well upset a marquee name somewhere along the line. If he can conjure up the Chaves that once thoroughly tested Keith Thurman – a clean, disciplined version – it’s far from impossible.
Bradley vs Chaves Undercard: Lee Wins Big, Dubious Cards Hit Herrera
In a fight that required no scorecards, Irishman Andy Lee made a dramatic statement on the night’s undercard by dethroning then WBO Middleweight Champion, Matt Korobov. During a heated exchange, Lee landed a peach of a right-hook that rocked his opponent to his boots. Lee then overwhelmed the defenseless Korobov with hard blows until the referee halted the contest at 1:10 of the 6th round.
Lee will now be pleased to finally start calling some shots at 160 pounds, and could well see himself in the frame as a future Golovkin opponent, provided the Kazakhstan-born fighter doesn’t jump up to Super Middleweight. Lee now moves forward to 34 wins, 24 knockouts, 2 losses, while Korobov picks up and blemish and drops to 24 wins, 14 knockouts, 1 loss.
One has to feel for Mauricio Herrera after he fought Jose Benavidez in the card’s previous bout. He also fell on the wrong side of a highly controversial Unanimous Decision that has added yet another low blow to boxing’s judging; following the Garcia vs Herrera decision, the Junior Welterweight contender will no doubt be devastated. Ringside scorecards were bizarrely wide, consisting of 112-116, 111-117, 112-116. Californian Herrera now stands at 21 wins, 7 knockouts, 5 losses, while Benavidez remains unbeaten with 22 wins, 15 knockouts.
What did you think about the Bradley vs Chaves scorecards? No qualms? – or did the judges simply get it wrong? And what about Andy Lee’s emphatic TKO of Matt Korobov? Does an encounter with Middleweight monster Golovkin lay in the cards?
The BoxingBase.com writing staff provide worldwide boxing news, coverage and analysis – they can be contacted via email and social media.
