ShoBox 12-01-2006--Rangel vs. Bradley
Jaime Rangel (30-9-1, 26 KOs)
*Versus*
Timothy Bradley Jr. (16-0, 10 KOs)
*Versus*
Timothy Bradley Jr. (16-0, 10 KOs)
Eight rounds of Welterweight action brought to you by the state of California, the Chumash Indians, and Showtime! Let's go to the ring for all the negligible action!
I'm watching the Jaime Rangel/Timothy Bradley Jr. fight, and so far Bradley's best punch has been a right hook to the testicles and Rangel's best punch has been the headbutt. Of course, don't let the fact that neither of these is legal stop you from enjoying the fight. After all, those usually start a good fight when both guys get sick of the back-and-forth exchange of fouls.
However, nobody decided to tell Bradley and Rangel that this televised, apparently, so they've both just been kind of lazing around in the ring, engaging in an extensive 8-round feeling out punctuated by borderline body shots, occasional flurries of what passes for action, and a lot of the typical southpaw/orthodox awkwardness. It's fine for a club fight, but when you're making either your first fight on TV (Bradley) or what is probably your last fight on TV (Rangel), you kind of want to be impressive, and so far aside from a few good shots on either side, this fight has been a whole lot of nothing.
Well, except for the bullshit ending.
The match was heading for the judges’ scorecards anyway, but because of the many inevitable headbutt exchanges opening a pretty nasty cut on Rangel, the ringside doctor stops the fight in the 8th and final round with roughly a minute to go. Yes, there were at least 8 significant headbutts, but there’s only a minute left in the round, I think you could let the guys fight it out for the final minute to try and pep the crowd up for the follow-up fight, couldn’t you?
Bradley wins this one easily, despite being strangely flat-footed the entire fight. When the men did meet toe-to-toe, generally in the last 45 seconds of every round, Bradley put together better combinations. When they exchanged punches, Bradley seemed to hit harder. Bradley also seemed to have the harder head when they exchanged headbutts. Rangel got outclassed all the way, despite an experience advantage (translation: he’s old) over an obviously-nervous opponent making his TV debut.
Still, this fight didn’t make me a Timothy Bradley fan. He was a little too timid against the southpaw and didn’t fight with any kind of flash. It was a day at the office, and that doesn’t win you many fans. I’m sure he’ll be back again, and while he didn’t suck so bad I’d never watch him fight again (unlike John Ruiz), I also won’t cry if I miss him fight.
They can't all be winners, but I expected more.
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