By Francisco Hernandez: People seem to be surprised that the Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley fight is not sparking all the fireworks that they imagined. Some writers view this fight like the modern version of Thomas Hearns vs. Marvin Hagler. If people got off their opium of hype and took a reality break maybe they would understand why this fight isn’t the super fight that it’s been hyped up to be. Don’t get me wrong, this should be and probably will be a good fight, but it’s not a super-fight like some hype spinners would like to make it.

Devon Alexander hasn’t really done much to merit the title of being called a great fighter; he is actually an average boxer. He was able to knockout Juan Urango, which indicates Alexander has punching power. Yet Alexander went on to really lose his fight against Andriy Kotelnick, although the judges gave Alexander a gift. In his bout with Kotelnick, Alexander was exposed for the limited fighter he is. Alexander is not able to control a fight; he has few ring generalship skills. Once you negate Alexander’s power he is helpless because his boxing skills are average to say the least. Alexander simply doesn’t have the skills to control a fight against a decent boxer.

Timothy Bradley looks like a weight lifter and he fights like one. Bradley has no power in his punches. He throws pitty patty punches because he cannot extend his arms fully to put some explosives into them. You could say that Bradley touches not punches. Although Bradley is fast he lacks true rhythm. Bradley’s style of fighting is not a good one to watch, it is not fan friendly; it is like the sound of finger nails scraping a blackboard.

When you put these two styles together, Alexander and Bradley, it may turn out to be just a stare contest. It can turn out into two guys posturing in front of each other with no one really taking a risk. To make it a good fight, they are going to have to become aggressive and go for the knockout. Alexander has not shown that he has the spirit necessary to walk down a boxer like Bradley and knock him out. Bradley will try to make it a chess match and win the decision. Alexander cannot win a decision; it is up to Alexander to make this an exciting fight by cornering Bradley and knocking his head off. Alexander has to exert pressure on Bradley for twelve rounds to make this a good fight.

What is commendable about this fight between Alexander and Bradley is that they are willing to fight each other. We live in a time when marketing has taken over boxing and good old fashion fights don’t happen that regularly. Alexander and Bradley are willing to face anyone you can place in front of them, they aren’t running or hiding like most boxers today. That is what fans appreciate from these two champions. If these two fighters go for the knockout and don’t spend twelve round staring at each other, this will be a good fight.

I would like to see the winner of this fight face Marcos Maidana or Victor Ortiz if he is still hanging around this division (Ortiz is probably already a welterweight), those will be exciting matchups and will really fill up stadiums. Because of Amir Khan’s style of running I don’t think he would make a good fight with either Alexander or Bradley. Bradley would just out speed him and Alexander doesn’t have the fire to go after runners.