By knocking out the iron-chinned IBF junior welterweight champ, Juan Urango, in a March unification bout that saw him give one of the virtuoso performances of the year, Alexander joined the elite of the already top-heavy 140-pound class.

There’s no going back now for the St. Louis native who made his debut on the world stage almost exactly one year ago when he stopped the UK’s Junior Witter in August ’09 to capture the vacant WBC title.

According to most experts, only WBO champ, Timothy Bradley, ranks higher than Alexander and, below him, you’ll find the likes of Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana and Victor Ortiz.

Pretty impressive company but, ironically, none of this would have been possible if not for Timothy Bradley. It was the WBC’s decision to strip Bradley that paved the way for Alexander-Witter.

Bradley had just unified the WBO and WBC belts with a hard-fought win over then-WBO champ, Kendall Holt, and was ordered by the WBC to begin immediate negotiations with number one contender, Alexander. Looking for bigger paydays than the one that would be given for a bout with a relatively unknown challenger, Bradley willingly vacated the WBC strap.

To be fair and honest, Alexander, at the time, wasn’t worthy of his mandatory status. His high ranking was a mere fluke caused by a sport with four major sanctioning bodies and four sets of divisional rankings. Up to that moment, the only fighter of note on Alexander’s resume was veteran, DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley, and that fight came five years after Corley’s prime and amidst a three fight losing streak for the former titlist.

But his early worthiness notwithstanding, Alexander definitely made the most of his opportunity by outclassing the crafty Witter to win the vacant WBC belt and then knocking Urango out to annex the IBF strap.

Now, Alexander is set to face another former titlist, the Ukraine’s Andreas Kotelnik, in a card appropriately named, “Gateway to Greatness” this Saturday, August 7th in St. Louis.

Kotelnik doesn’t figure to upset the apple cart and send Alexander back to club fights in small Missouri venues. In the stereotyped tradition of his fellow Eastern European fighters, he’s too stiff, too slow and painfully orthodox in comparison to the smooth and quick Alexander. But Kotelnik is a tough, fundamentally sound former champ with plenty of big names on his resume. Most recently, he beat Marcos Maidana in a tight split decision in Germany before losing a one-sided romp to Amir Khan in the UK.

More than anything, Kotelnik will serve as a measuring stick by which Devon Alexander “The Great” can affirm his “Greatness.”

In a division where boxing politics are preventing the top fighters from fighting one another, the next best thing is to measure oneself against common opposition. Anything short of a dominating stoppage of Kotelnik, who has never been stopped, will be considered a let down. That’s how high expectations are.

Alexander sent fight fans into a frenzy after his last two performances and is already on the verge of cracking some pound-for-pound lists. A sluggish performance on Saturday’s HBO main event in his hometown will push him a full step back in his quest to land the big fights.

Despite being the heavy betting favorite, Alexander can’t afford to look past Kotelnik. But with high profile bouts against Bradley, Khan and Maidana on the horizon, who could blame a 23-year old kid if he took his eye off the task at hand?

Just look at Victor Ortiz’s loss to Maidana in June of ’09 and Danny Jacob’s TKO loss to Dmitry Pirog on last Saturday’s pay-per-view as evidence of what can happen when young, talented fighters stand on the “Gateway to Greatness,” while completely overlooking the opponent in front of them.

This Saturday we’ll find out just how “Great” Alexander is and whether he’s really ready to pass through that gateway.
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Coming off his title unification win over Kendall Holt in April, Bradley gave up his WBC title to defend the WBO version against the experienced Campbell, who was making his debut at 140 pounds after failing to make weight in his last lightweight effort. As a former three-belt titlist at 135 pounds, Campbell was considered Bradley’s most difficult opponent to date. And, as compensation for taking on such a stiff test, Bradley was allowed to fight essentially on his home turf in Rancho Mirage, California. Bradley is from nearby Palm Springs.

But home field advantage was never a factor as Bradley surprisingly made the fight look easy. Aside from one straight right hand across the jaw in round one, which Bradley took well, Campbell was held at bay by the champion’s faster hands. Unable to put any punches on Bradley, Campbell spent most of the first two rounds running his mouth in an attempt to psyche the younger fighter out.

The 37-year-old Campbell, 12 years older than the man pressuring him, was starting to look like he didn’t have it anymore as Bradley jumped on him with a flurry to begin round three. During the assault, the fighters bumped heads, and Campbell stumbled back along the ropes, animatedly looking to Referee David Mendoza to complain. Mendoza hesitated, taking a look, and then signaled to the officials at ringside, though he didn’t audibly explain the gesture.

Bradley, meanwhile, proceeded to pounce on Campbell with fifteen unanswered punches against the ropes. As he was being hit, Campbell looked to Mendoza to argue further, revealing a bad cut over his left eye. While Campbell complained, Bradley fought, continuing to hammer in shots while Campbell was pinned against the ropes. Campbell’s only response was a shake of the head as he was too exhausted to even counter.

Campbell sagged against the ropes, looking like he might actually be stopped since he wasn’t able to defend himself or return fire. Bradley’s lack of knockout power enabled Campbell to survive to the bell, but it was on his stool that the biggest surprise of the night happened.

Campbell walked back to his corner, checking the condition of his eye out on the video wall, before taking a seat. With a shake of the head, Campbell leaned over the ropes and told his trainer, John David Jackson, that he couldn’t see. While his corner men tried wiping the blood away for a better look, Campbell adamantly refused treatment. Stopping his corner men from working on him, a panicking Campbell audibly told them to stop the fight.

Fully aware that he was on his way to being stopped or losing on the cards should the cut worsen after four rounds, and with the knowledge that he could walk out with a no contest should the bout end at that point, Campbell saw a way to escape without a loss and went for it.

The problem was Mendoza had never ruled that Campbell’s cut was from a butt, though replays later seemed to confirm that to be the case. And so the fight was stopped, with Bradley winning on a technical knockout.

In Mendoza’s defense, a head clash is often extremely difficult to notice in-fight. Oftentimes, it’s the fighters’ reactions that indicate a butt rather than the butt itself. This scenario is the number one reason boxing is desperately in need of instant replay for official fight decisions. Campbell was the latest victim in a situation that has come up in three notable fights in the last year.

After seeing Bradley celebrate and questioning Mendoza about the verdict, Campbell was predictably outraged to discover that, by quitting, he had suffered a loss rather than a technical draw. Campbell pleaded with anyone who would listen to his case, but the fact was he tried to work the system by opting out before another round could be logged, which he knew would have cost him the fight on the scorecards.

Aside from failing to make sure the cut had been ruled the result of a head butt, Campbell actually did the smart thing, though it will surely bring him under scrutiny now, especially since the cameras caught him telling his corner men to stop the fight even before the ringside doctor took a look at the severity of his cut. He essentially quit in a bad situation, which will tarnish the warrior image he so desperately tries to project for himself. Realizing he was out of his league against the younger Bradley, he got out while he still could.

In an effort to protect his rapidly deteriorating reputation, Campbell delivered a tirade about how he’s the only fighter willing to take on everyone else in boxing. During his tantrum, he expectedly called for a rematch, inciting a war of words between his promoter, Don King, and Bradley’s promoter, Gary Shaw, who both hinted that they would be interested in a rematch, though Shaw was more noncommittal about the possibility.

And in truth, a rematch probably wouldn’t look much different. Unless Campbell can somehow turn back what looked like clear signs of aging, he’ll be in for a rough night against Bradley, who was better in every way – at least for three rounds.

WITTER EXITS A QUITTER AS ALEXANDER PICKS UP WBC TITLE

In the biggest fight of his young career, undefeated Devon Alexander picked up the WBC Junior Welterweight title vacated by Tim Bradley this spring when he made former champion Junior Witter quit on his stool after eight chess-like rounds.

In a strange twist of fate, Witter, who lost the WBC title to Bradley in his hometown of Nottingham, England, was trying to win the title back on what was essentially Bradley’s home turf. He started out well, switching between conventional and southpaw stances to hit Alexander with both hands in round one. But he fought erratically, even doing a complete somersault after missing wildly at one point.

Witter was winning the second round as well until getting caught by a left-right combination from the southpaw Alexander that made him stumble aside in the final seconds. Alexander also took the third round when he wobbled Witter into the ropes with a right hook near the end of the round. Though Witter mocked Alexander by acting more hurt than he was, the judges needed something to separate the fighters in otherwise close rounds, meaning Witter surely dropped the round.

Witter bounced back by winning round four, but the biggest moment of the fight came in round five when Witter hurled a wild left hand and ate a big one in return from Alexander that snapped his head straight up. Badly hurt, Witter fell into the ropes before coming off and grabbing Alexander around the waist to avoid hitting the canvas. It was a brilliant veteran move to recover from a brilliant shot and allowed Witter to get out of the round without losing an extra point.

Rounds six and seven could have gone either way as Alexander’s work rate dropped off, enabling Witter to score enough to get by. But in round eight, Alexander was much more assertive, forcing Witter to play defense and hold more often.

After the round, Referee Dr. Lou Moret urged Witter to hold less or risk losing a point, and Witter surprisingly responded by getting off his stool, walking across the ring and embracing Alexander, thereby opting out of the fight, despite not taking serious punishment and still very much in the fight. The stunned fans booed as Witter left the ring, and Alexander’s stablemate and fellow St. Louis native Cory Spinks entered the ring to celebrate with him. Alexander revealed another trait he had in common with Spinks when he began crying in joy over the victory.

Witter later explained from his dressing room that he quit due to an injured elbow, which he felt was inhibiting his ability to throw punches. At 35 years of age, his career may be in jeopardy as his days of being a serious contender draw closer to an end with this most recent loss.

Meanwhile Alexander now finds himself in the same position Bradley was in at this time last year: the undefeated WBC Champion with a big win over Witter. Perhaps Alexander will continue in the footsteps of Bradley and attempt to unify his title with Bradley’s in the coming year. Right now, it seems like one of the most logical matchups to make in the 140-pound division.

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In the undercard, Devon Alexander won the WBC Light Welterweight Title in a fight with Junior Witter. Alexander won by stoppage when Witter gave up after the eighth round. It was a sudden finish but Witter just didn’t want to fight anymore.
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Junior Witter vs. Timothy Bradley (WBC Light Welterweight Title)

Witter used his jab effectively in the early rounds but certainly wasn’t dominating with it. Bradley seems to be letting Witter establish his jab. He has the younger legs and should be pushing the pace against the older champion. Witter starts doing some showboating in round 4 a la Roy Jones Jr. Witter is a slow-pace fighter and Bradley really needs to think about pressing the action if he wants to win the title. Right now Bradley is fighting Witter’s fight.

Witter is leaving his lead hand out to start the 6th. Lennox Lewis always used to be really annoying with that. Bradley lands a nice counter left. Witter keeps that lazy hand out there and Bradley connects with an overhand right that puts Witter to the floor. Witter gets up but also gets besmirched by his corner for being lackadaisical. Bradley is now pushing the pace in the 7th round. ‘Atta boy. It’s an odd clash of styles now as Witter is trying to fight from the outside while Bradley is hoping to close the distance and fight on the inside. Looks like a classic example of the fighter that imposes his will wins the fight.

Witter is throwing one punch at a time, usually a jab. Bradley is moving around more but still not putting his punches together. Bradley continues to stalk in the 9th and has the momentum going into the championship rounds. Witter’s fight is quieting a usually engaging British audience. Honestly, Witter should lose his title before the 12th round begins for being an absolute waste in the ring. Witter shows no desire to hang onto his title in the final round. I knew I should have made other plans instead of watching this fight. The scores come in and they are read as follows: 115-112 Witter, 115-113 Bradley, and 114-113 Bradley. That score was way too close but at least the right man won. Bradley came away with his first world title and is only 24 years old.

Carl Froch vs. Albert Rybacki

No world titles are on the line here but a win by Froch should put him in line for a super middleweight title shot. Both men are undefeated but Rybacki is taking this fight on three days notice. Rybacki must not care about his undefeated record. Three days notice?! I won’t help people move without one week’s notice, let alone take a fight. Froch is a strong puncher so this one shouldn’t last too long.

Both men are patient to start. Froch should push the action. Rybacki is older, fighting on three days notice, and is used to fighting 6-round fights. The first round is uneventful. As is the second. What the hell? This was supposed to be quick and painless…for me. Froch steps it up in the third with some body work. That leads to effective head combinations later in the round and Rybacki is in trouble. To his credit, Rybacki is fighting back and electing not to clinch. Perhaps he just wants this fight to be over. Froch corners Rybacki and unloads with punches that put Rybacki on the run. Rybacki is still willing to exchange. A right hand followed by a left uppercut from Froch froces the referee to stop the fight. Rybacki was doing enough to keep the fight going but he wasn’t showing enough to prove he could win the fight. Referee Jon Keane made the call to save Rybacki.
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