Carson, CA  – Timothy Bradley defeated Jessie Vargas by unanimous decision with the scores of  116-112, 117-111 and 115-112 to win the interim WBO welterweight title at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA. The scores were read mere minutes before Pat Russell stepped between the two fighters as it appeared he had called a halt to the action. It was actually a mistake as he thought the round was over, but caused utter confusion as Vargas began to celebrate thinking he had won the fight. However, that was not the case as Bradley dictated the majority of the fight.

The first round saw Timothy Bradley employ his faster hands as Vargas created a small target to hit that frustrated Bradley. In fact the first two rounds saw two very close rounds that could of gone either way as neither fighter stood out as Bradley came in very aggressive into Vargas’ chest and Vargas was using a stiff jab to make Bradley debate about coming in , but couldn’t land a solid power punch.

In the fourth round and fifth round, Bradley began to kick things into another gear as it appeared his flurries were too much for Vargas as it appeared Vargas could only land a jab, but nothing else. Bradley seemingly would land at least three to four powerful punches that would go unanswered. The big problem was Bradley was coming in reckless and not respecting Vargas as Vargas was able to rally back in the eighth round after dropping several rounds.  This actually worked to help Bradley in a way as he began to regain focus after the momentary lapse as he returned to his prior form for the remainder of the fight.

In the final duration of the bout, it was Bradley who showed he wanted to do something as opposed to Vargas who seemed happy to just stay on the outside and pump a jab while Bradley stayed active.  The story of the fight was that Vargas was too one dimensional as he looked only to throw a jab and land an overhand right that never seemed to land until the 11th round and even then had no concern to do much about it.

The final round of the fight will forever live in infamy when with about 30 seconds left in the fight Vargas landed a solid right hand that moved Bradley backwards. Referee Pat Russell moved in and heard the clappers with ten seconds left with Bradley in a clinch, Russell intervened and waived the fight off thinking the duration of the bout was over. Vargas on the other hand thought that he had knocked out Tim Bradley in the last 30 seconds as he celebrated in the ring in what was a truly confusing mess.