Timothy Bradley Defeats Juan Manuel Marquez To Retain Title

Timothy Bradley has defeated Juan Manuel Marquez to retain his WBO welterweight title.

Following the match Bradley told reporters, “That win was my ticket to the boxing Hall of Fame. I beat a great champion.”

At 40-years-old Marquez was making a bid for his fifth weight class title and the pro-Marquez crowd was not happy with the judges’ decision during a close-fought match.

After the match Marquez said, “I came to win. I felt that I did win. The judges took it away. You don’t have to knock out a guy to win.”

Bradley, a more active and aggressive fighter during the match, used the second half to lay into Marquez, just as he did in his hotly disputed win over Manny Pacquiao two fights ago.

On Saturday night Bradley won the match 116-112 on one card and 115-113 on another. The third judge handed Marquez the match with a final scorecard of 115-113. The Associated Press scored 115-113 in favor of Timothy Bradley.

Bradley topped off the match with a final left hook, the biggest punch of the fight between the two men. It was that final punch in the 12th round that send Marquez stumbling backwards while prompting two of the three judges to hand the round to Timothy Bradley.

Gloating in his win Bradley added, “He couldn’t touch me. I gave him a boxing lesson.”

Following the match ringside stats showed Bradley connecting on 168 fo 562 punches while Marquez connected on 153 of 455. Bradley landed 82 of 337 jabs, many from his left hand.

In familiar Marquez fashion he blamed the judges scoring pattern for his loss. “I’ve been robbed six times in my career,” Marquez said. “I clearly won the fight.”

Bradley, who recently defeated Manny Pacquiao, turned down that rematch in favor of Saturday nights fight. Marquez knocked Pacquiao out in the sixth round last December.

Timothy Bradley remains undefeated in his last 31 fights.

While Bradley defeated Juan Manuel Marquez, both men walked away with $4 million.

Do you think Timothy Bradley deserved the win or was Marquez robbed by the judges scorecards?