By Jake Donovan
Randall Bailey takes issue with the suggestion that the depth of his back injury which caused the postponement in his title defense against Devon Alexander wasn’t as extensive as reported.
The bout was originally scheduled for September 8 and took forever to find a home. Less than a month after finally landing at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Bailey was forced to withdraw from the date after suffering the injury during training.
The two will now clash this Saturday at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York. Bailey (43-7, 37KO) welcomed the six-week delay, if only to properly heal and come in at 100% for yet another title fight in which he enters as the underdog – despite coming in as the defending titlist.
“I had to take some time off, sit back and relax for two weeks,” Bailey explained in recalling the injury and healing process. “Whenever you’re hurt in a fight, you still have to go on. But in this situation, it didn’t make sense to go into a fight injured.”
Alexander’s handlers – namely head trainer Kevin Cunningham – question the severity of the injury. They don’t doubt that Bailey was in fact hurt enough, but point out discrepancies in the reported road to recovery for the veteran fighter.
“The fight was scheduled September 8. That Monday (after), he’s talking about he’s in the gym and feeling good,” Cunningham notes, citing Bailey’s comments through social media in verifying the time line. “If you injured, you injured. Sh*t happens. But was you on bed rest, or were you in the gym like you were tweeting?”
Bailey – who has held his own in the war of words with the Alexander camp for the past several months – is done with the issue and the back-and-forth through the media.
“Kevin must have eyes everywhere because he knows so much. You can’t tell Kevin nothing. Kevin is like a cartoon in his own show.”
The bout airs as part of a televised quadrupleheader live on Showtime. The main event pits unified titlist Danny Garcia in a rematch with Erik Morales.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
