The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of June 28

Another weekend with some controversy?

Eh.

Let's not make more out of an ending that was more bizarre than controversial and ultimately did little to impact on the final result.

Timothy Bradley claimed his fifth world championship with an impressive outclassing—for all but maybe 10 seconds—of Jessie Vargas on Saturday night. Here, we address the fight and the surrounding swarms of controversy, both real and contrived.

We also take a look at the latest saga involving Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Berto and a certain ex-fiancee of the pound-for-pound king. If it sounds like something out of TMZ, that's because it is out of TMZ.

And then we get to the latest on Errol Spence Jr., Mickey Bey's decision to vacate his lightweight championship and some more scoring controversy on ShoBox Friday night.

These are the hottest boxing storylines for the final week of June! 

Should There Be Any Controversy over Bradley vs. Vargas?

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Bradley can never seem to avoid at least some controversy—win, lose or draw.

For 35-plus minutes of action on Saturday night at the StubHub Center in suburban Los Angeles, the now five-time world champion was dominant. He proved to be on a wholly different level—or two—from Vargas, a former junior welterweight titlist, who couldn't keep up with his activity or pressure. 

And then it happened, or, should we say, almost happened?

Vargas connected with a nuclear right-hand shot in the closing seconds of the final round—when he was already hopelessly behind on the scorecards—that staggered Bradley and sent him backpedaling to the ropes for respite. 

It's a testament to Bradley's strength and toughness that the shot didn't collapse him to the canvas, but it left Vargas with a legitimate shot of a possible knockdown or even knockout in the final 10 seconds of the contest. 

With Vargas fighting out of a clinch, referee Pat Russell interceded and stopped the fight with a few ticks left on the clock and Bradley badly in need of the final bell.

Vargas, thinking he won the fight, immediately jumped up on the ropes to celebrate what turned out to be an honest mistake from the ref, who thought the 10-second clap was the final bell.

Controversial? 

Yes and no.

Bradley dominated most of the prior 11-plus rounds. Vargas fought going backward all night long and never took the step of adjusting his strategy or pressing the action. In short, he deserved the chance to finish the fight, but it wasn't likely. He was going to lose, even if he scored a knockdown.

You can bet that Vargas and his team will drum up the ending as proof that their guy got jobbed. And maybe he did, to a certain extent, but that doesn't take away from a dominant performance from Bradley, who showed his customary guts and will to claim a fifth world title.

What Game Is Floyd Playing?

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Mayweather has earned plenty of titles in his 19 years of professional boxing dominance.

He's the pound-for-pound king, the sport's undisputed top draw and smartest businessman, and, without a doubt, one of the most controversial and polarizing figures boxing has ever produced. Given the depth of characters and personalities we've seen come and go over the years, that last one really carries some water.

With the biggest fight of his life in the rearview mirror, why are we once again talking about a guy who—supposedly—has only one fight left in his storied career against an opponent yet to be named?

Part of Floyd's brilliance is his ability to always remain in the conversation. Now, that's not always a good thing, but he certainly operates under the philosophy that no press is bad press. A lot of it—given his history of domestic violence—has been bad press, but it hasn't stopped him from raking in hundreds of millions of dollars.

And that's just this year.

So when Mayweather dropped Karim Mayfield and Andre Berto—the latter was once considered an elite-level prospect and possible future foe—as potential swan-song opponents to FightHype's Ben Thompson, you had to figure something was up. Neither make any sense from a boxing or business standpoint, so what gives?

Berto told TMZ—take it for what you will—that he's recently been harassed by phone and believes Mayweather is the culprit. The former welterweight champion claims the issue revolves around his relationship with Shantel Jackson—Mayweather's former fiancee—and her new boyfriend Nelly.

Sordid enough for you yet?

Mayweather quickly dispatched a member of The Money Team to TMZ, telling the gossip outlet that Berto was "delusional" and that he's "not even on Floyd's speed dial."

What to make of all this drama?

Who the heck knows. 

But it is worth mentioning that Floyd name-dropped Berto before all this other talk started.

Does that give it the ring of truth? You decide for yourselves because we just don't know.

Is Errol Spence Jr. Being Pushed Too Fast?

David Becker/Associated Press

Spence Jr. is a blue-chip prospect.

All you need to see that is a pair of working eyeballs and a knowledge of the sport just slightly higher than that of C.J. Ross on her worst day.

Sorry, C.J.

But is he being moved a bit too fast?

Spence thrashed late-replacement Phil Lo Greco on the televised undercard of Shawn Porter's beatdown of Adrien Broner on Premier Boxing Champions last weekend, but now Mayweather is talking him up as a fall foe for knockout artist Keith "One Time" Thurman.

In fact, Mayweather wants Thurman vs. Spence on his September undercard.

No disrespect to Spence, who is probably the best prospect in the game today and a future star, but that might be a bridge too far to jump with just 17 pro fights and not one against a fighter in Thurman's zip code.

Thurman shrugged off the idea in comments to Carlos Boogs of BoxingScene.com, praising Spence's talent and potential but calling the offer "disrespectful" because he hasn't "fought one B-class opponent." 

One Time really wants a clash with Mayweather, but if Floyd's recent comments and shenanigans are any indication, that doesn't have much chance of happening. Thurman faces Luis Collazo on July 11 in Florida in a fight that has been widely criticized since it was announced. 

Spence doesn't need to face him right now.

You want him to step up in class? That's fine, but Thurman seems to present a bit too much risk at this stage.

How about Robert Guerrero as an alternative?

That would d be a stern, if less risky, test, given The Ghost's recent performances.

Way to Go, Mickey Bey

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Boxing has one more vacant title belt this morning.

Mickey Bey, who probably never should have won the title in the first place, elected to give up the IBF Lightweight Championship, which he won from Miguel Vazquez in a putrid display of pugilism, rather than face top-rated challenger Denis Shafikov. 

Why you ask?

It would seem that Bey just doesn't want the fight. 

He was originally offered the match for April 30, which would have guaranteed high exposure as part of the Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight-week experience and a nice payday, but he turned it down.

It then went to a purse bid that was won by Bob Arum's Top Rank and planned for July 18 in Macau. Bey would have stood to earn a fraction of what he could have gotten had he taken the Vegas opportunity, and his reign thus ends without a single defense.

Shafikov will instead fight for the vacant belt against undefeated Cuban "Kid Blast" Rances Barthelemy, who moved up in weight and dominated Antonio DeMarco after a brief reign as a super featherweight titlist.

Barthelemy was impressive in that fight, albeit against a badly faded and shopworn foe, and pitched a shutout. He's tall, rangy and awkward, which makes him a nightmare opponent for basically everyone in the 135-pound division.

As for Bey?

Where does he go next?

We know it won't be Macau, but with Mayweather promoting and pushing him, you should expect he'll land on his feet.

Whether or not people will watch or care is a whole different question. 

Did Sam Soliman Get Screwed?

You gotta feel for Sam Soliman.

The 41-year-old Aussie is a nightmare to fight against. His awkward, mauling style makes it impossible for anyone to look good against him, even if you do figure out enough avenues of attack to beat him. 

Middleweight prospect Dominic "Lights Out" Wade found that out the hard way in the main event of Friday night's ShoBox card from Shelton, Washington.

He won by scores of 97-93, 95-95 and 93-96, but it did seem that Soliman was the one who landed both the cleaner and more effective punches throughout the fight. 

It was a tough bout to score, as expected, but the proof seems to be in the pudding here.

The Aussie deserved this verdict.

Soliman ended the night with a 64-35 edge in landed power shots, and a 98-74 edge overall, per CompuBox (h/t BoxingScene). Those stats aren't always accurate or a clear indication of how a fight played out, but they are representative in this particular case. 

Wade should thank his lucky stars for this win. 

Let's not be overly critical, however. 

The 25-year-old deserves credit for taking on an awkward former world champion in his first step-up fight. He held his own and could have taken an easier path into the top-10 of the middleweight division.

Wade has plenty of areas left for improvement, but good luck finding anyone out there who can look impressive against Soliman when he's healthy and fighting on two good legs.