This was one of those brutal (almost hard to watch) back and forth bouts where I’m now fearing each of the fighters will emerge in future contests as merely shells of their former selves. Just too much blunt force trauma to not have a lasting effect. In the early and late middle rounds, it had a Meldrick Taylor – Cesar Chavez likeness. Bradley was taking an absolute bludgeoning, but refusing to succumb. He impressed me not only in that he took the punishment he did and remained in the middle of the ring, but also having the gas left to respond. And respond violently he did. I understand making Rocky references in comparison to real prize fighting is a bit of a cliche. However, it would have been perfectly appropriate for Provodnikov to make his way to the corner after the first couple of rounds and uttered the words “he is not human, he is like a piece of iron.” If you haven’t had a chance to check out the replay of this war, treat yourself.
