Bradley vs Vargas caused a bit of a stir – to put it rather lightly – after referee Pat Russell called an end to the 12th round 7 seconds early. Had Bradley not been staggered by a right-hand bomb not long before, it would have mattered little. Vargas immediately celebrated by climbing the turnbuckle after, hands high in the air, believing he had won without doubt.
He couldn’t have been more wrong, as we now know. But to be fair to the Welterweight contender, we all bought into the same theory at the time.
Then came the news that Russell had mistaken the 10-second clapper for the final bell – or something along those lines. Oopsy-daisy! The blunder tainted the entertaining, crowd-friendly Bradely vs Vargas, which is unfortunate. What’s more unfortunate is that the fight – which Bradley was comfortably ahead in – fell just short of being totally conclusive.
So here at BoxingBase.com, we held a poll to see how our readers felt about that ugly ending. We asked: Did the referee ruin Bradley vs Vargas? And after receiving close to 1000 votes, it appears the feeling is no due to Bradley likely winning regardless. It’s not a fact and only popular opinion, sure.
But still, of those readers, 76% said that Russell did not ruin the fight as Bradley would have still been the victor, against the remaining 24% who disagreed and felt Vargas could have pulled off the upset.
Did you miss your chance to vote? Still like to have your own say? We’d like to know you take, so fire away in the comments!
The BoxingBase.com writing staff provide worldwide boxing news, coverage and analysis – they can be contacted via email and social media.
