Looking Ahead to the Anticipated Devon Alexander vs. Timothy Bradley Showdown
Devon Alexander certainly didn’t live up to expectations on Saturday night against Andriy Kotelnik. He was involved in a close fight when many people thought Alexander was going to look spectacular. He just had an off night. Kotelnik is a good fighter and a lot of people really didn’t respect him because of the way Amir Khan dominated him. The question is: Will this fight have a lingering effect on Alexander as he gears for hopefully a Tim Bradley fight?
Before the fight, I heard HBO Boxing analyst Max Kellerman say on the Alexander-Kotelnik broadcast that he believed Devon Alexander could one day be the pound-for-pound champion. Before the fight, I didn’t have Alexander on that level. I think he will certainly be a top 10 pound-for-pounder, probably by next year.
His stock took a hit though on Saturday. Alexander was supposed to look spectacular in beating Andriy Kotelnik. Instead Alexander barely won a decision, and some people thought Kotelnik might have won the fight. Hopefully next up for Alexander is a fight against Tim Bradley. I still believe Alexander can beat Tim Bradley.
Alexander’s poor performance was attributed to one thing; defense. Alexander got hit a lot against Kotelnik, because he left holes in his defense. I also feel that Alexander didn’t respect Kotelnik’s punching power. Bradley isn’t a big puncher either, but he can certainly do damage if he lands one of those big overhand rights flush on Alexander’s chin.
I believe Alexander’s defense will be better if he fights Bradley. I’m sure Bradley will watch the tape and see that Kotelnik had success getting inside and pinning Alexander against the ropes. Bradley is going to be effective doing that, but Alexander has the hand speed and the jab to keep Bradley off him. The game plan for Alexander should be to box, throw lots of jabs, and be aggressive in spurts. I believe Alexander will be able to shake off this poor performance, and go on to a victory should the Alexander vs. Bradley fight come off sooner than later.
