UNBEATEN BRADLEY UPSETS WITTER TO BECOME 25TH SHOBOX ALUM
TO WIN A WORLD TITLE
FROCH DISPOSES OF RYBACKI IN FOUR ON SPECIAL SATURDAY
EDITION OF SHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION
____________________________________________________________________
Saturday, May 10, 2008
From Trent FM Arena, Nottingham, England
Photos: TOM CASINO/SHOWTIME (Click on pictures for larger view)
NEW YORK (May 11, 2008) – Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley showed no signs of jetlag in his upset, split-decision victory over defending world champion Junior Witter Saturday. Bradley, a four-fight veteran of the SHOWTIME boxing series ShoBox: The New Generation, captured
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
the World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Lightweight Championship by scores of
115-113, 114-113 and 112-115 to become the 25th ShoBox fighter to win a world
title.
The special Saturday night edition of the popular, prospect-oriented series was
promoted by Hennessy Sports from the Trent FM Arena at Nottingham, England and
aired on a same-day tape delay.
In the co-feature, No. 1-ranked WBC super middleweight contender Carl Froch of
Nottingham dispatched late-replacement Albert Rybacki of Poland with a
fourth-round stoppage.
The undefeated Bradley (22-0, 11 KOs) had never fought professionally outside
his home state of California. Earlier this week, he traveled more than 5,000
miles from his hometown of Palm Springs, Calif., to the homeland of the reigning
140-pound champion for his first world title fight.
Early on, Witter controlled a sloppy fight and appeared to be on his way to his
third championship defense. But Bradley, reportedly a 6-1 underdog, rocked the
champion in the sixth with a devastating overhand right sending Witter down for
only the second time in his career.
That one-punch knockdown turned the tide for Bradley who controlled the rest of
the contest with effective aggression.
“I knew this fight was mine,” said the newly crowned 24-year-old champion. “I’ve
seen the tapes [of Witter’s past fights], and he fades in the sixth and seventh.
And I know that’s when I come on. I get stronger in the later rounds.
“I have been working on that punch,” said Bradley of the overhand right that
dropped Witter. “He tends to pull back with his chin up in the air and I just
caught him. But I couldn’t finish him. I had to be careful in there. He’s got
power in both hands.”
“This can be considered an early candidate for upset of the year,” said renowned
ShoBox analyst Steve Farhood. “It is so difficult to win a world title on the
road. And to do it with as little experience as Bradley has, this was something
special. That one-punch knockdown in the sixth proved to be the difference maker
in the fight.”
Witter, 34, drops to 36-2-2, 21 KOs and will have to recalculate his career
path. He was lobbying for marquee fights with other top 140-pound fighters
including Ricky Hatton.
The undefeated Froch easily outclassed Rybacki and improved his record to 23-0,
19 KOs. Froch was originally scheduled to face Denis Inkin in a WBC final
eliminator for the super middleweight title, but Inkin pulled out two weeks ago
with a training injury. As a result, the WBC officially named Froch the
mandatory challenger to current 168-pound champion Joe Calzaghe.
Froch didn’t have to take this fight to guarantee his title shot but said he was
eager to showcase his power to the American television audience on SHOWTIME.
If you missed Saturday’s exciting telecast, catch the replay on SHOWTIME.
Monday, May 12 8 p.m. ET/PT Showtime Extreme
Tuesday, May 13 Midnight Showtime Extreme
Home About Us-Boxing Directories Boxing Schedule Columnists Feedback Inside Coverage Local Scene Links Welcome Search InsideBoxing Join eGroup Submit News/Articles Tell Friends Copyright Notice