Bradley decisions Holt to unify 140 lb. crowns

Timothy Bradley survived first and last round knockdowns to eek out a unanimous decision to retain his WBC and capture the WBO Super Lightweight titles from Kendall Holt at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

Holt landed a booming left hook that dropped Bradley in the first frame. Bradley was wobbly for the rest of the round but survived a potential onslaught. Bradley shook off the knockdown to begin fighting in his customary consistent way as he became much more active and focused on the body of Holt. In round three, the two clashed heads and a small cut was formed of the right eye of Holt.

In round seven, Bradley’s body work was more evident. Holt was landing the harder shots but they were more or less one at a time and Bradley started to jab to set up his body work as the championship rounds approached. With about thirty seconds to go in the fight, Holy landed a short right hand that slightly staggered Bradley and the ref administered a standing-eight count. The punch was a good punch and replays showed that Bardley’s glove grazed the canvas. Bardley was abale to survive that round and ultimately was able to hang on for the 115-111, 115-111, 114-112 decision.

After the fight, the undefeated Bradley (24-0, 11 KOs) said, “I kept my faith and gave tonight everything I got. This is a dream come true for me. I knew one day this would happen and I give it all to God. I came in tonight in tremendous shape. I prepared myself well.”

Referring to the two knockdowns, Bradley credited Holt saying, “Kendall is sneaky. He is a crafty fighter and I got caught. He hits hard and I know everybody will be chasing me thinking I have a glass chin but they don’t know how hard he hits.”

An upset Holt (25-3, 12 KOs) said after the fight, “I’m disappointed in myself. I let my fans down and I let my corner down. I gave away the middle rounds with a lack of work.”

When asked what was next for him Holt responded with only one thing in mind. “Rematch. It was a close fight and I want the rematch.”

Bradley, 138 1/2 lbs of Palm Springs, Ca. is now 24-0. Holt, 140 lbs of Patterson, NJ is now 25-3.

Librado Andrade scored two knockdowns en route to a unanimous decision over Vitali Tsypko in a twelve round IBF Super Middleweight eliminator.

Andrade dropped Tsypko in round two from a nice right that was the pre cursor for a solid Andrade performance over the duration of the bout. Andrade continued his solid boxing that included some sharp right hands. One of those rights stunned Tsypko in round six.

In round seven, Andrade dropped Tsypko with a right hand that started the round. Andrade had a big round of right for which he double up on occasion. Andrade was cut over his left eye in round eleven but that was not a factor as the two slugged it out in an exciting round twelve.

“He was very economical with his punches,” said Andrade. “I had to be careful when I hurt him. If I got too aggressive, he could get the edge and I would be in trouble. I felt that I had him in the fifth round but he is such a good boxer that he slipped away. “

Speaking of a potential rematch with Bute, Andrade said, “If it happens, I would be more then happy. This is a beautiful city and a beautiful country. The people here support boxing, they support the fighters and Bute is lucky to be from here.”

Andrade, 167 lbs of La Habra, California won by scores of 120-106, 117-109 and 117-109 to raise his record to 28-2. With the win, Andrade will now set his sights on a rematch with IBF Super Middleweight champion Lucian Bute. The two engaged in a controversial fight lasy year with Bute bitterly surviving the last round to retain his belt. Tsypko, 167 1/4 lbs of Ukraine is now 22-3-1.