Timothy Bradley was awarded a TKO victory - retaining his WBO junior welterweight title - when veteran Nate Campbell said he could not continue after the third round. An accidental clash of heads in round three had opened a gash over Campbell's left eye. As soon as the round ended, Campbell said he couldn't see out of his left eye and was so insistent that referee David Mendoza had no choice but to stop the bout.
Campbell, however, believed that the fight would be ruled a no contest since four rounds had not been completed and the cut was the result of a butt. The referee did acknowledge that there had been a clash of heads but believed the cut was caused by a punch. Replays made it clear that Campbell was correct and that the cut was opened up when his head collided with Bradley's.
After the decision was rendered, Campbell, 37, protested loudly - but to no avail - to anyone and everyone that would listen.
While the ending was controversial, the 25-year-old Bradley - fighting in front of a supportive crowd in Rancho Mirage, California (near his hometown of Palm Springs) - used superior hand speed and combination punching to win the three rounds that were completed before the stoppage. A rematch is a possibility.
On the undercard, 22-year-old Devon Alexander claimed the vacant WBC super lightweight title when Junior Witter, 35, quit on his stool prior to the start of the ninth round. Alexander was controlling the bout and was ahead on all three cards through eight rounds (80-72 and 79-73 twice). Witter later claimed to have injured his elbow during the bout.
Update: As expected, Nate Campbell is petitioning the California State Athletic Commission to overturn the ruling of TKO and have the decision changed to a no contest. A hearing is scheduled for August 24. Most appeals fail. This one has a fairly good chance of succeeding.
Comments
Typical Showtime/Don King fight. They go on about these two being ‘champions’ when neither guy is more than above average. Then when they can actually get them to make weight, they have two guys that can’t hit anything but air and fall down on their own. Then, mysteriously after taking round 7 just because he landed a few jabs, the guy that ‘lost’ (I had him down by four points with five rounds to go, but he wasn’t hurt and definitely had a chance) suddenly quits due to a phantom ailment. Give us a break, some of us fans aren’t total idiots.
I’ve been watching fighters since Sugar Ray and the ones now are whiners, and Nate Campbell may be one of the biggest. I had Bradley in the fight, but last nite Campbell didn’t want him and was looking for a way out. That clash was him hitting Bradley, and I didn’t see the cut either till after a couple of shots. The rule is, it isn’t a cut due to an accidental head butt until the ref calls it that, so maybe Campbell should have defended himself instead of complaining to the ref about the butt while Bradley laid a whooping on him on the ropes. I think Bradley should give him a rematch, and take him to school again, but not because of any injustice. He’ll be an easy opponent and Bradley has lots of holes in his game still. He is too easy to hit with counters and goes down pretty easy.
I’m 100% convinced that Campbell quit because he knew if the fight were stopped he’d get a draw instead of the loss he knew was coming.
His excuse that he couldn’t see was complete BS and it sure seemed obvious he was not hurt whatsoever. He tried to take advantage of a clash of heads as a cheap way out of a loss, but it backfired.
Either way, Campbell is a chump. Hopefully this is the last we have to see of him on television. A couple good bar fights might be more up his alley.
Campbell did try to use the rule book and it did backfire, but I think the early rounds were gonna go to Bradley I also think Nate would have caught him in the 11th for a TKO. I question Bradley’s heart bigtime.