By Jake Donovan (photo by Rodrigo Peña)
When presented with lemons, make lemonade.
That’s what SHOWTIME was faced with after being reduced to just one televised fight Saturday night in Biloxi, Mississippi. What began as a highly anticipated doubleheader turned into a sneak preview into the future of the 140 lb division, as Tim Bradley easily turned away the challenge of Edner Cherry in the evening’s makeshift main event.
The bout was supposed to serve as the co-feature, with Nate Campbell’s first defense of his unified alphabet lightweight titles against Joan Guzman scheduled as the headlining act. The title aspect of the bout fell through after Guzman came in 3 ½ pounds heavy at Friday’s weigh-in, and the bout scrapped altogether once Team Guzman decided their fighter’s health wasn’t worth the risk, even in the face of a potential suspension, fine and legal action.
Bradley also struggled a bit at the scales on Friday, initially weighing 0.3 lb over the super lightweight limit before shedding ½ lb about thirty or so minutes later. It was the only part of the fight with which he struggled, controlling the action throughout the night against Cherry, who moved up in weight for the contest.
It took a while for things to get going, with both fighters working behind the jab early, but only Bradley committing to it from beginning to end. Cherry’s entire night was spent looking for openings to launch his left hooks and famous “cherry bomb,” which is a fancy way of describing his right hand. His first attempt missed, which forced him to stumble forward, foreshadowing of things to come for the transplanted Bahamian.
A steady Bradley body attack began to surface in the third, which would become key in breaking down Cherry. Bradley also did a superb job in playing defense, dipping and ducking nearly every overhand right and left hook thrown by Cherry, and coming back either with body shots or right hands upstairs.
The only thing that went wrong through the first three for Bradley was a head butt midway through the round, to which Cherry complained to the referee. The light-hearted protest went unnoticed, forcing Cherry to let his fists do the talking.
He did so in the fourth, perhaps his best round of the fight. Left hooks were the key, including one toward the final minute of the round that sent Bradley into retreat mode. Bradley landed a 1-2 just before the bell, regaining control and never really looking back.
Round six saw the complete Bradley package – body shots and forcing Cherry to miss nearly every punch while doing little more than slipping with his head. It was the point in the fight where he truly took over; all it took was for his turning a kind ear to his cornermen.
“I got my jab established, as I wasn’t working off of it earlier,” Bradley would admit after the fight. “Once the jab started landing, it set up big punches.”
Bradley became a little too overzealous with his body attack, drawing a warning from referee Gary Ritter for a couple of shots that strayed low. The warning lit a fire under Bradley, who fought the remainder of the round far more purposeful, much to Cherry’s dismay.
The writing was on the wall by the end of round seven, at which point Cherry’s corner tore into him. Head trainer Peter Fernandez unleashed a series of F-bombs in the direction of Cherry Bomb, begging his fighter to get angry and fight like he wanted to win the fight and the title.
Cherry responded with a spirited effort to start the eighth. He landed two right hands early, slipped a one-two and came back with a left hook. The same sequence of punches landed seconds later, suddenly waking up the crowd at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino. Bradley brought the room back down to earth and Cherry to the canvas, dropping a right hand over a lazy left jab. It was enough to convince Cherry to return to passive mode, fighting the rest of the round in retreat, rarely throwing more than one punch at a time.
The two basically played out the string for the remaining four rounds. Bradley was intent on making a statement; Cherry more interested in slowing down the fight to a crawl. The two reached a compromise, with a clinch occurring seemingly every time sustained action threatened to surface.
It wasn’t until a Cherry bomb landed midway through the eleventh was the monotony disrupted. Bradley, by his own admission, took the remaining moments of the fight for granted, and wound up getting clipped by a right hand that momentarily shook him.
“I got careless; I felt like I was in control and got caught,” admitted Bradley, fighting for just the second time outside of his California home state. He looked right at home in the fight, quickly recovering from the shot and regaining control to dominate the final round with a healthy mix of offense and defense.
His dominance was reflected on the final scorecards, which read 117-110, 118-109 and 119-109, all in favor of Bradley, who moves to 23-0 (11KO) with the win.
It was the first defense of the title Bradley won from Junior Witter four months ago in England. While the winner of the upcoming Ricky Hatton-Paul Malignaggi bout later this year is the opponent he most desires, a mandatory defense is more likely in his immediate future.
The latter route would lead to a possible early 2009 showdown against undefeated Devon Alexander, who’s presently the number-one contender, but may have to fight an eliminator before earning his way to a fight that would undoubtedly determine the future of the junior welterweight division.
A return to lightweight is hopefully in Cherry’s immediate and permanent plans. His falling miserably short against Paul Malignaggi was enough proof that a career at 140 lb would lead to nowhere; hopefully he got the message loud and clear after Saturday’s bout.
The fringe lightweight contender falls to 24-6-2 (12KO) with the loss, snapping a modest three-fight win streak in the process.
The one-and-done event was presented by Gary Shaw Productions, in association with Thompson Boxing. Don King was the show’s promoter of record.
CAMPBELL AWAITS NEXT MOVE – AND PAYCHECK
Though his lightweight title fight with Joan Guzman was scratched, Nate Campbell hung around long enough to speak with Showtime’s Jim Gray before the bout. Unlike the high-and-mighty approach taken by the late Diego “Chico” Corrales in the wake of his cancelled rubber match with Jose Luis Castillo two years ago, Campbell was subdued with his comments, speaking only of the future while touching on his disappointment.
“I’ll go back to the drawing board and train,” was what he offered when asked what was next. He’ll most likely be training for an IBF mandatory defense, which would come against South Africa’s Ali Funeka, who earned the potential title shot after scoring a fourth-round knockout over Zahir Raheem earlier this year.
Guzman was Campbell’s forced mandatory, leapfrogging Amir Khan and Anthony Peterson in an agreement with the WBO, who granted him the opportunity after vacating his 130 lb. title in exchange for this fight. It was all for naught, as he missed weight, with his 10-month period of inactivity likely to grow a lot longer once disciplinary action is taken.
Campbell expressed no sympathy for him, but few harsh words as well – at least on camera
“I have nothing more to say. I’m always for the fighter, but also for the fighter to do his job. He’s a pro and had over 300 amateur fights – he knows better.
“I showed up and made weight. I feel that I pulled my end of the bargain.”
A not-so-subtle hint at his belief that he should still get paid.
“That will be my next fight,” Campbell joked toward interview’s end, still remaining his usual wit and pleasant disposition even in the wake of disappointment.
Not much more you can ask when presented with lemons.
Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .