A BRADLEY?VARGAS REMATCH IS USELESS
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 29 Jun 2015
In one of the weirdest ending ever witnessed in boxing, WBA junior welterweight champion Jessie Vargas ended up on the short end of the stick against the now WBO Interim Welterweight champion, Timothy Bradley.
Due the controversial ending brought about by a gross mistake from veteran California referee Pat Russell, many, Team Vargas included, feel that Vargas deserves a re-match.
I say no to the rematch.
All throughout the 12 round fight, Vargas in spite of height and reach advantage failed to give a good account of himself. Save from perhaps a couple of rounds that can be credited to him, he was far behind in points.
Vargas for some reason simply could not put together the combinations asked of him by his ex-world champion trainer, Erik Morales. He could not on a consistent basis catch Bradley who displayed faster hand and speedier foot than him. While it is true he would occasionally tag Bradley which resulted in some puffy swelling under the eyes of Bradley, he could not sustain a momentum enough to earn a win. In fact, the judge?s scores validates that. Vargas lost in all the three judges? cards. If it were not for that right hand punch in the 12th, the scores could have easily been a shut-out.
So what is then the reason for a re-match?
If a re-match is simply for ?justice? to allow Vargas a second chance simply because he lost 7 precious seconds after he tagged Bradley towards the end of round 12, that alone does not warrant a rematch. Besides, the controversy was a result of an honest mistake on the part of Russell. If the fight was ticky-tack and the scores could have gone one way or another, then perhaps it is worth a look at a re-match. But, it was far from that!
On the other side of the coin I think a re-match would be very difficult to sell. In fact, the first one did not even draw 5000 people in spite of the very reasonable cost of general admission.
I am not too sure about Vargas, but I feel Bradley can not draw folks to a fight except the die hard ones. For some reason, the Desert Storm simply can not blow enough people towards a venue. I have seen that since his days fighting at Agua Caliente Casino in his hometown Palm Springs.
But if really there is clamor for a re-match, then the next way to do it is put the fight as a supporting main event if the fight will be held in the US. But come to think of it, if done in Macao, China if may draw more than in US but it must be done with a great undercard.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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