By Eric Thomas: WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander (21-0, 13 KO’s) has a tough task ahead of him in his fight next month on January 29th against World Boxing Organization (WBO) light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (26-0, 11 KO’s) when they battle it out at the Silverdome, in Pontiac, Michigan. This isn’t going to be a home town fight for Alexander, so he’s actually going to have to prove that he’s the better fighter in the ring rather than depend on being bailed out by the judges like in his last fight against Andriy Kotelnik in August.

The 23-year-old Alexander will also have to deal with not having his huge fan there for him at ringside in this fight, as he’s become accustomed to fighting at home in Saint Louis, Missouri. But on January 29th, Alexander is going to be facing Bradley with a lot less fans there at ringside watching him. Will Alexander be able to handle fighting away from his cheering fans or will it not matter? I think it will. However, Alexander has bigger problems than that against Bradley, because he’s facing one of the smartest fighters in the division.

Alexander was exposed in his last fight against Kotelnik, and didn’t seem to have an alternative plan to fall back on when Kotelnik began to punish him with shots. Alexander continued with his pattern of throwing jabs and following with a hook and a right hand. It was very predictable and Kotelnik knew what he was going to do and was able to capitalize on it. Forget the judges’ scores in that fight, Kotelnik won it.

Alexander got what you call a home town decision. He may not have lost the fight on paper, but he lost it in terms of what many fans feel about the fight. Alexander has to raise his game a level, because Bradley is going to out-hustle him on the inside and win a lot of rounds based on this alone. Alexander may punch harder, but Bradley is a harder worker and he’s going to win many, if not all, of the rounds just by being busier and showing more heart in the fight.