Timothy Bradley Too Experienced for Jessie Vargas

He was the betting favorite going and after 12 heated rounds inside the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., Timothy Bradley proved exactly why he was expected to hand Jessie Vargas his first professional defeat.

Bradley immediately seized control of the HBO-televised main event with his typical trademark pressure and he never relented. “Desert Storm” got on the inside often and forced Vargas into an uncomfortable trench war whenever he could. Vargas had his moments in the battle as he hung tough every step of the way, but Bradley’s vast experience in huge fights, coupled with his better overall skillset was too much for the young Las Vegas-based fighter to overcome.

Neither man was ever badly hurt in the tussle nor were there any knockdowns, but the fight was entertaining. Bradley poured on the pressure late and it seemed like Vargas (26-1, nine KOs) might eventually wilt under the assault, but he kept himself in every round by attacking and trying to counter.

In the end, Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs) was busier and landed the much more telling, cleaner blows en route to a unanimous 12-round decision. He won via tallies of 116-112, 117-111 and 115-112, allowing him to finally win for the first time in almost two years.

In the co-featured bout, Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez improved to 17-0 with 14 KOs with a dominating performance over 10 full rounds to decision Ruben Tamayo. Though Tamayo did score a knockdown in the first round thanks more for tangled legs more than anything else, he was a few a steps behind his foe from the start. Valdez quickly seized control and battered “Canelito” until the end, where he was awarded the decision with scores of 98-90 (twice) and 99-90. Tamayo lost a point in the seventh for repeated low blows.

Undercard results:

Tokan Clary (16-0-1, 10 KOs) took out Jonathan Perez (33-12, 27 KOs) with a second remaining in the sixth; welterweight Leo Chavez Jr. (4-1, 3 KOs) won a six-round unanimous decision over Jair Quintero (4-5-2); welterweight Abraham Lopez (1-1) scored a four-round unanimous nod against Joann Valenzuela (1-4-1, one KO); and 147 pounder Ed Brown (6-0, six KOs) flattened Jose Maruffo (7-3-2) at 1:48 of the second round.