Timothy Bradley defeats Ruslan Provodnikov via unanimous decision in a FOTYC.

In what could end up being the “Fight of the Year”, Bradley overcame brutal bookends of a fight to defeat Provodnikov via unanimous decision. Bradley suffered what appeared to be a knockdown in the first frame, but it was not called by referee Pat Russell. What was a 10-9 round (all three judges) for the Russian, could have easily been a 10-8 if Russell would have acknowledged the knockdown. In the second round, Bradley found himself in more trouble and Max Kellerman wondered out-loud if that could be a 10-8 round.

From there on out, Bradley got in rhythm, out working Provodnikov with quick combinations. Bradley was landing so many shots that Freddie Roach (Provodnikov’s trainer) threatened to stop the fight. There was times, though, where Bradley still got in trouble and Joel Diaz also issued the same threat to Bradley. In the 11th round, Provodnikov was coming back and issuing big power shots on Bradley. In the final round, the Russian did everything in his power to try to stop Bradley. With the seconds ticking aways, Provodnikov scored a climatic knockdown on Bradley. It wasn’t enough to put “Desert Storm” away, but it gave Provodnikov an easy 10-8 round.

At the end of the fight, Harold Lederman had it 115-112 for Bradley. The three official scorecards were 114-113, 114-113, and 115-112 for Bradley. I had it 114-113 for Bradley. I gave Provodnikov the 11th round but that could have easily gone to Bradley. So I feel an 115-112 score card for Bradley makes sense too. If the referee would have called the first round knockdown, two of the judges and myself would have scored it a draw.

The brilliant fight is scheduled to replay on Sunday, March 24th at 9:35 (CST) on HBO. If you missed it and are going to miss the replay, find someone who has HBO and use their HBOGO account to watch the fight online.The brutality in the exchanges, the brawling segments, the combinations from Bradley, and the pure heart showed by both men made this a classic.