TIMOTHY BRADLEY W12 KENDALL HOLT

Tremendous conditioning, heart and work ethic carried Timothy Bradley to victory over Kendall Holt in Saturday’s clash of junior welter champions on Showtime.

Holt was the bigger puncher and he may even have been the better fighter, but Bradley outworked and outgamed him for a well-earned unanimous decision win.

Although Holt landed the harder blows and scored a knockdown in the first round and another in the 12th, he was too often posing and backing up in the rounds in between.

Bradley, one of the most impressively sculpted fighters in the business, had such a high degree of fitness that, as noted by Al Bernstein in the commentary, he was able to shake off a knockdown in the first round that might have been fight-ending for a lot of boxers.

Sent crashing by a big left hook, Bradley bounced right up and then had the presence of mind to drop to one knee to take the eight count.

With Bradley steaming in again as if nothing had happened as round two opened, I wondered if a little something had gone out of Holt. He had landed a perfect punch and it hadn’t shaken the confidence of his opponent one bit. Bradley’s strength of purpose played a major part in his victory. He wouldn’t be denied.

It might have seemed risky for Bradley to take the fight to Holt after what had happened in the first round, but he was keeping his opponent going back and thus preventing him from getting set to land another really explosive punch. Holt was always dangerous but Bradley seemed to be finely tuned-in to his opponent’s every move and cleverly bobbed and ducked under some big shots.

When Holt did land there was no question that he was doing the harder hitting, but Bradley was simply outworking him, jabbing down and up, banging the body and at times flurrying with both hands, swamping the bigger hitter with his activity.

By the 11th I thought that Holt needed a knockout to win. He did land a lovely right uppercut in the 12th and Bradley’s right glove touched the canvas to bring an eight count from referee Michael Griffin, but the fight was nearly over and Bradley easily boxed his way through to the finish and a richly deserved victory.

On the same show, Librado Andrade was just too strong and heavy handed for Vitali Tsypko in winning a unanimous 12-round decision that earned him a rematch with IBF super middle champ Lucian Bute. Andrade scored two knockdowns and won widely but I thought he had several chances to finish the fight. Tsypko looked disheartened after being dropped and battered in the seventh but Andrade didn’t keep the pressure on him and the game and tough Ukrainian southpaw was able to battle his way back into the fight. Andrade had his man wobbling again in the 12th but Tsypko was determined that he would at least have the satisfaction of hearing the final bell.

I was a bit disappointed that Andrade, as in the fight with Bute, eased up after seemingly being well-placed to overpower his opponent. He won comfortably but I had the sense that he missed an opportunity to look spectacular.