Out of 26 writers, I was the only one who predicted a victory by Chaves against Bradley. Yesterday, I saw a close fight with a thin but clear edge for Bradley, but when you see other colleagues saying things like “I could live with 115-113, and even 114-144…” it means that the fight was much closer than what a lot of people had imagined, and that the scorecards that a few observers brought in their pockets had to be rewritten at the last minute. The same goes for those who expected a “foul-infested” fight on the strength of their memories of Chaves-Rios and instead got a tough and pretty clean scrap, with pretty much the only blatant foul (a low blow) coming from Bradley. Sometimes, short-term memory is even worse than no memory at all. When assessing the value of a largely unknown fighter, sometimes you have to trust the “guy on the ground”. And as an Argentine writer, I have followed Chaves’ career closely enough to know that Bradley (and Rios, and even Thurman) were in for a tough challenge, and then some. Chaves was an outstanding amateur in an era in which guys like Matthysse, Maidana and many others were around, and even then he earned his nickname (“The Jewel”) as one of the most promising fighters in his division. I am not advocating for people to take my word just “‘cuz I know the guy”, but sometimes it’s healthy to look past the BoxRec/YouTube analysis and look at the whole picture, or run the risk of missing on the Baldomirs, Maidanas, Matthysses, and (yes) Chaves(es?) of the world. More often than not, there is a “jewel” hidden in there, somewhere. Just sayin’! ;) ringtv.craveonline/news/369659-who-wins-tim-bradley-diego-chaves
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 14:35:00 +0000
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