Timothy Bradley-Luis Carlos Abregu Renew Boxer Slugger Rivalry

Timothy Bradley is regarded as the best 140-pound fighter in the world and hasn’t taken an easy fight since 2007. Now that the other top 140-pound fighters are tied up, Bradley will move up to 147.

Louis Carlos Abregu isn’t a top welterweight, but he is a guy with a huge punch. Abregu is very raw but has a booming right hand.

Abregu has a four inch height advantage (5’10” to 5’6”) and a three inch reach advantage (72” to 69”). Since Abregu is a raw power puncher these advantages shouldn’t play into the fight too much.

Outside of power and size Bradley has every other advantage that you could ask for. He is faster, smarter in the ring, and wants to fight.

He loves fighting and when he gets into the ring nothing is going to stop him. He faced adversity against Kendall Holt and came back to dominate.

He also came back in his last fight against Lamont Peterson and showed a nastiness that we haven’t seen before. Every time Bradley steps through the ropes we see a new wrinkle.

He lacks the big power but he has every other tool that a fighter could ask for. He is technically one of the best fighters in boxing today and is a tough bout for anyone at 140.

He is capable of beating any fighter in the 140 pound division and I would take him against any of them. Another trait that makes him special is he wants to fight the big fights and doesn’t shy away.

This fight is a great example, he cant get a marquee name at 140 so he moves up to fight a legitimate bigger, harder hitting welterweight.

At 26 years old he is one of my favorite young fighters and he has a bright future ahead of him. If he wants to achieve everything he can he has to get through Abregu this Saturday.

As mentioned, Abregu is a big hard hitting welterweight. At this point he is a raw fighter that has shown real power, but a shaky chin.

His resume isn’t nearly as impressive as Bradley’s and he hasn’t beaten a true contender at this point. Bradley is a big step up and it may be too big of a step.

He hasn’t faced a fighter who can box this well and certainly hasn’t fought an opponent as determined as him. All of the evidence so far would point to an easy win for Bradley.

That may be true and Bradley may win every round on every card. Another scenario is Abregu gets to Bradley’s questionable chin and gets him in big trouble.

We have seen Bradley down before and it isn’t hard to think that he could go down again. How likely is this scenario?

Not very likely, Bradley fights very smart and he can get into fire fights but for the most part he sticks to what he does best.

This Saturday we will see the renewal of the never ending boxer-slugger struggle. The boxer always has the upper hand but the slugger is always in the fight.

Will Bradley notch another win for the boxers on his H.B.O. debut or will the slugger knock the boxer down a peg.