Quote Originally Posted by uptoscratch View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Ron Swanson View Post
Could someone please link the first round of the Bradley/Provodnikov fight? I'm on my phone so I can't do it. This rumor that Provodnikov made Bradley stop and fight needs to stop. Bradley chose. Watch the round. There seems to be this thing in boxing fandom where if you say something that isn't true enough it becomes popular opinion. Watch the round! Bradley is moving and Bradley stops, it has nothing to do with Provodnikov. Provo deserves all the credit in the world for his success he created when Bradley stopped. But tell the truth, Bradley stopped.


As you say, Bradley boxes for the first half of round one, but right around 1:30 they come out of a clinch in the middle of the ring, and Bradley suddenly decides to stay there and try to wallop Provodnikov with combinations.

If anything, the way Provodnikov got Bradley to stop boxing was by being almost impossible to miss with a punch. Provo showed great toughness to be able to keep throwing back, but it was nothing to do with him foiling Bradley's movement.

A Pac-Provo fight probably ends with Provo being stopped on cuts.
Bradley's weakness though has always been his lack of punching power. He wins by volume and defense. Wouldn't you suspect that Provo's game plan was to take a few punches to land one? Bradley let him do that, whether it was by mistake or not is impossible to tell, frankly. Also, Bradley makes some mental mistakes in boxing matches, but usually it's here and there, would he really make one for a whole fight? It's unfair to not give some credit to Provo.

How about we split the baby? Bradley made a mistake and decided to fight when he should have boxed in the first round, but Provo's ability forced that mistake would cost Bradley the entire fight. With a world class competitor like Bradley, credit to Provo for doing that.

What we do know is that the fight was 12 rounds and Bradley for some reason stopped boxing from the outside after getting hurt in the first round. If he wanted to win the fight and thought he could do it from the outside, he should have switched it up after the first round. If he couldn't switch it up because Provo was fighting too well, then credit to Provo.

Why hasn't Provo got a rematch with Bradley? Didn't his performance in their first fight earn him one? By the way, I think Bradley would win a rematch.