Showtime Predictions
By Krakrabbit
Saturday night on Showtime fight fans will be treated to a WBO junior welterweight title bout when undefeated Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, (24-0, 11KO’s) battles fellow unbeaten Lamont “Havoc” Peterson, (27-0, 13KO’s) live from the Agua Caliente Casino, Rancho Mirage, California.
Bradley opened the contest as the clear betting favorite and public money has slowly flowed in on him, knocking his number to –260. Peterson supports get the underdog cash at +215. The O/U on the bout is set at 11.5 rounds, with the over coming in at -200 and the under at +160.
Bradley by KO comes in at +252, while Bradley by decision will reward you with +150. Peterson by KO hits the mark at +748, and Peterson by decision lands at +290. The odds of the fight being declared a draw sit at +2750.
Tim Bradley is fresh off a recent bout with former champion Nate Campbell that lasted only three short rounds.
However, nobody was knocked out! The Campbell fight has had a large amount of controversy surrounding it up until the California State Athletic Commission declared the fight a No Contest three weeks after the fight took place.
In the fight, Campbell and Bradley were off to a slow start with Bradley fighting outside of his usual style and attempting to box while Nate pursued him.
In the third round, Bradley charged forward towards Campbell and midway through a flurry headbutted Campbell, opening a very deep and severe cut over Nate’s left eye.
After the round was over, Campbell claimed he was seeing spots (those claims were later confirmed by doctors, as Nate had a vitreous hemorrhage behind his left eye) and could not continue and the fight was stopped. However, on that night the referee (David Mendoza of California) ruled the cut was caused by a punch and awarded Bradley the TKO victory.
As if it wasn’t evident enough during the fight, the replays shown by Showtime obviously show that Bradley (accidentally) headbutted Campbell in the middle of a flurry.
Nonetheless, everyone who bet on Nate Campbell, Bradley by decision or the over lost their money. Three weeks later, the decision was overturned and rightfully ruled a No Contest.
When Bradley and Campbell were actually fighting, I was surprised to see that Tim was attempting to outbox Campbell instead of charging forward as he usually does in his fights.
I feel that despite all the trash talking from Bradley, Tim was less then enthusiastic to engage his more experienced opponent. Nate has very underrated power, and I think Bradley was trying to outbox Campbell so he ran no risk of getting caught and possibly knocked out.
Tim Bradley is usually an in-your-face brawler who is constantly applying pressure to his opponents. Bradley has a strong offense and as of yet has not been defeated despite facing off with solid fighters such as Junior Witter, Edner Cherry, Kendall Holt and of course Nate Campbell.
Even though Bradley has a solid offensive attack, he is not invincible. Tim often leaves himself open to being hit and lacks any real defensive skills inside the ring. Fortunately for Bradley, he has the chin to back up his hit or be hit style. Tim has tasted the canvas before (Kendall Holt dropped him twice in their fight, but refused to finish Bradley off) but has some strong whiskers on him.
He has held up to some cleans shot, and while I have seen him buzzed before in his career, seeing Bradley on wobbly legs isn’t something you can bank on witnessing.
While Campbell was not looking great for the three rounds he was in the fight and may well have lost later in the night, the decision that unfolded at the Agua Caliente Casino (the location for this fight!) has me worried about just how far hometown cooking will go for Bradley in California.
Lamont Peterson is himself hot off a win over unbeaten southpaw Willy Blain eight months ago.
In his fight with Blain, Peterson, as usual in his fights, dominated his overmatched opponent eventually stopping Blain in the seventh round.
Peterson does not have nearly as good a resume as Timothy Bradley does and is still relatively unproven in his 27-fight career. Lamont does hold wins over Humberto Toledo, Antonio Mesquita (an unknown, but then undefeated fighter with thirty-four wins), among some other lower-tier names.
While the names mentioned are decent, Lamont has not been seriously tested in his professional career as of yet, and Timothy Bradley will undoubtedly be a big step up for Peterson.
However, don’t let Peterson’s opposition grade fool you; Lamont has some serious skills!
Lamont Peterson is a slick boxer with some solid defense as well as a good offense. “Havoc” is quite well rounded in my opinion, and has a sharp left hook as well as some quick hands and smooth foot movement.
One problem I see with Peterson is that sometimes he uses the jab a little too lazily, sometimes just throwing it out there without a real purpose. I am worried that Bradley at some point may launch his right hand over the occasionally weak jab of Peterson. When Lamont does decide to throw his jab with intention though, it comes out with speed and strength.
The biggest issue Peterson has to deal with is his lack of raw power. While I do feel Peterson’s power is a bit underrated (13KOs in 27 wins), the majority of the time even when Lamont lands cleanly and dominates, he often has to lay an utter beating on his opponent to get them out of there.
I do not believe Havoc has the kind of one-punch power to give Bradley trouble early, and Tim rarely slows down in his fights so I would be surprised to see anything happen then either.
In fact, I would be shocked if either Bradley or Peterson could stop one another, as neither man has shown to have a weak chin (although Peterson’s is a bit more of a question then Bradley’s is due to level of competition) and neither fighter has huge power.
If, and I completely expect him to as he has nothing to fear against Peterson, Bradley elects to come forward after Lamont, I feel Peterson will have a pretty easy time outboxing and landing cleanly on Timothy.
I see Lamont Peterson as being the much more well-rounded and skilled fighter in this match up. Honestly, I don’t think too much of Bradley except for the man’s toughness and continuous pressure.
As we touched on, Bradley is no defensive wizard and Peterson can be quite precise with his punches. I would not be surprised to see Peterson painting Bradley’s face like Earl Scheib whenever he decides to throws.
I would not be shocked to see Bradley have his occasional moments against Peterson if he somehow manages to pin Lamont on the ropes, but overall I believe Peterson should have no trouble outboxing Bradley.
Adding to that, Havoc will have a significant reach (four inches) and height (three inches) advantage against Desert Storm, which will undoubtedly help Lamont keep Bradley away from him.
The biggest question for me in this fight is whether or not Lamont Peterson will be able to win on the cards in California against the native Californian, Timothy Bradley.
We all know what happened when Campbell was put at the mercy of the California athletic commission and Californian referee David Mendoza, and I cannot help but wonder if Peterson will be able to get a fair shake on the cards?
The Peterson/Bradley fight is even in the exact same hotel and casino as the Nate Campbell fight (Agua Caliente Casino) and that seriously worries me for this bout.
Personally, I expect Peterson to put on a great performance and to hand Bradley the first loss of his career, but whether or not they actually let Peterson officially win is the question.
Because of the uncertainty I feel when and if the fight hits the scorecards (I have a bad feeling if the fight is too close, Bradley gets it) I cannot bring myself to go as large on Peterson as I would like.
I am also worried about the possibility of Bradley cutting Peterson as he rushes forward with his head, as Timothy did to Campbell. If that should happen, I have a tough time believing they will be more then willing to call the cut as caused by a headbutt, whether or not it really was.
Of course, if that situation were to come up the call would be decided by the referee, but without knowing who will be the third man in the ring on Saturday its better to be safe then sorry, especially with such a hard-headed fighter in the ring.
Nonetheless, his odds are too irresistible for me to pass on Havoc in this one, and I feel the vastly overrated Bradley is in severe danger of losing his unbeaten record.
Krakrabbit: 1.00 Units On Peterson By Decision {+290}
Boxeo: 1.00 Units On Peterson By Decision {+290}
Grass Hopper: N/P
Doody: 1.00 Units On Peterson By Decision {+290} & 1.00 Units On Bradley By Decision {+150}
D3: 1.00 Units On Peterson By Decision {+290} & 1.00 Units On Bradley By Decision {+150}