Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KO’s) returned to the world boxing scene with a tougher than expected decision win over Juan Lazcano (37-5-1, 27 KO’s). Over 55,000 fans were in attendence as the “Hitman” landed flurries in combinations to Lazcano’s head and body. Hatton also withstood some solid punches to the chin. Overall it was a solid performance.

On the undercard Paulie Malignaggi (25-1, 5 KO’s) of Brooklyn won a difficult split decision rematch over Lovemore Ndou. Malignaggi stated after the fight that he suffered a broken right hand in the 6′th round and that hindered his performance. He also stated that he was foolish to sport dreadlock hair extentions that came undone and became a constant distraction. The problem wasn’t solved until Malignaggi’s cornerman gave him an abrupt and chopping hair cut.

I felt Paulie did better than the commentators were giving him. With a hurt right hand her was able to use his left to earn the win. The New Yorker maybe could have used his legs more, however he was successful in pulling the trigger faster than Ndou.

Hatton never came close to knocking the granite chinned Lazcano out. However, he was able to put on constant pressure and score some nice combinations. In the end both fighters passed thier tests, but I’m not putting either of thier names on the honor roll list.

Timothy Bradley (22-0, 11 KO’s) pulled off a surprising upset beating Junior Witter (36-2-2, 21 KO’s) by split decision to capture the WBC World super lightweight championship in Nottingham, England. This was not only Bradleys first fight outside the state of California, it was also his first ever 12 round fight. Witter foolishly took his opponent lightly with his mind focused on was preparing for a major British clash with domestic rival Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton. However, this loss certainly derailed that fight happening or at the very least lessoned its value should it ever go off.

The American known as “Desert Storm” had difficulty at first adapting to Witters unorthodox fighting style. After losing 3 of the first 5 rounds Bradley started to come on strong. In the 6′th round he scored a series of shots that sent Witter down to the canvas. Junior bravely rose and completed the fight, but he was more defensive minded and looked to score big counter shots but sadly failed too often and got outworked.

Bradley although undefeated was considered a pretty big underdog at 8-1 odds to win. However, after having seen Bradley fight many times I knew he was threatening opponent. I’d describe Bradley as a crafty fighter that works hard to improve and makes adjustments as the fight progresses. For this fight Bradley said he watched lots of footage and took time to focus on Witter’s highly unusual technique. He said the key to beating Witter is timing your shots well and always moving your feet.

Although Bradley does not bring raw power to the table he compensates it with his intelligence and superb athletic ability. The super lightweight (140 lbs.) division is pretty loaded up………..now we’ll have to add Timothy Bradley to the mix.