Timothy Bradley Jr. vs. Diego Chaves: Fight Time, Date, Live Stream and TV Info
Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley (31-1, 12 KO) returns to the ring after suffering his first loss at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in April. Bradley's initial win over Pacquiao is one of the most controversial in the sport in the last five years. The rematch served as justice for those who believed Pacquiao was robbed in the first bout.
On Saturday, Bradley faces a rough customer in Diego Chaves (23-2, 19 KO) at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
On the same night, Amir Khan battles Devon Alexander and Keith Thurman takes on Leonard Bundu. It's a huge fight weekend for the welterweight division.
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Bradley will be looking to rebound and to show that he still deserves to be considered among the best in the sport. Chaves will be trying to shake off the negativity associated with his last bout.
Back in August, Chaves was disqualified for giving an intentional elbow to the face of Brandon Rios. The fight was marred with fouls from both fighters, but Chaves seemed to be getting the better of Rios much of the night.
Despite having two points deducted, he was up a point on two of the three judges' scorecards when he was disqualified. Hopefully, he can clean up his act against Bradley and be competitive.
Here's how you can catch the action.
When: Saturday, Dec. 13, at 10 p.m. ET
Where: Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
TV: HBO
Live Stream: Box Nation (subscription required and region restricted)
The Book on Bradley
Does Bradley really understand who he is as a fighter? Moreover, is he OK with it? These are two very important questions as Bradley continues his career.
The 31-year-old has unfortunately allowed his desire to prove his toughness get in the way of smart in-ring strategy. Back in 2013, Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov engaged in the year's most thrilling fight. The truth of the matter is Bradley allowed that bout to be competitive by insisting upon trading with the much more powerful Provodnikov.
Bradley won, but he was knocked down and suffered a concussion that left him less than 100 percent for months. Had he used his speed and pure boxing prowess more against Provodnikov, he would have won every round, and most probably wouldn't even know who the rugged Siberian is.
In Bradley's last fight against Pacquiao, Desert Storm was trying to prove to his doubters that he deserved to win the first fight with Pac-Man. Clearly, he was thinking: What more resounding way to prove the point than by knocking out the Filipino legend.
Things didn't go as planned. Bradley again brought a knife to a gun fight. He looked to trade with Pacquiao and just didn't have the pop to hurt him.
Bradley wasn't stopped, but Pacquiao left no doubt in the rematch. He took back the WBO title he lost to Bradley in the first fight.
What's the deal here? Bradley must realize he is not a power puncher. He has just 12 KOs in his 33-fight career. That's a KO percentage of 36.36. He has stopped one fighter in the last seven years, and that was a 40-year-old Joel Casamayor in his last fight.
If Bradley accepts this reality and fights properly, he can give any 147-pound fighter in the world hell.
He'll beat most of them.
However, if he continues to fight with more machismo than brains, he'll lose to less skilled fighters and continue to make one-dimensional sluggers look elite.
If he does this against Chaves, we could see fireworks.
The Book on Chaves
Known mostly for his toughness and power, we're starting to see there's more to Chaves than meets the eye.
Before all the fouling ruined the culmination of the bout with Rios, Chaves was proving he has a little more than reckless power and pursuit.
From a speed standpoint, he is underrated. He's a very good puncher who can hurt any opponent he faces. Before he gave Rios fits, Chaves put Keith Thurman through his toughest fight to date.
Ultimately, Thurman stopped Chaves in the 10th round, but everyone watching knows the 28-year-old from Argentina delivered a solid effort.
Saturday's bout will be only the third fight outside of Argentina in Chaves' career. The bright lights of Las Vegas shouldn't give him an issue, but we'll have to see how he handles the fast hands of Bradley.
Prediction
How close this fight is depends on how smart Bradley fights. If he uses his speed, counterpunching skills and superior footwork, he can put on a boxing clinic against Chaves.
Not only is Chaves slower than Bradley, his arms are also shorter. According to BoxRec.com, Chaves' reach measures just 66.5 inches from armpit to knuckle. Bradley isn't exactly a condor, but his 69-inch reach is significantly longer than Chaves'.
The struggle for Bradley is to not allow Chaves to drag him into an ugly slugfest.
Fans will be thrilled, but Bradley would be taking an unnecessary risk. If he sticks to a smart game plan, he'll win an easy unanimous decision. If he deviates, he should still win a decision, but he'll take some punishment along the way.
Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.
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