Timothy Bradley Wins Vacated WBO Title in Extremely Controversial Fashion

Because Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn’t really care about anything title-related other than his undefeated record, the vacated WBO Welterweight belt was up for grabs last night between top contenders Timothy Bradley and Jessie Vargas. Yes, the same Timothy Bradley who “won” the most controversial judge’s decision of the decade after getting annihilated by Manny Pacquiao.

Last night, drama ensued after Referee Pat Russell stopped the fight with ten seconds left in the final round because he said he “heard a bell”. While this would mostly be considered a forgivable gaff, Russell’s stoppage came after Timothy Bradley’s chin caught a mammoth right hook from Vargas — and Bradley was practically out on his feet. When Russell waved his arms: Vargas believed he had won the fight, and began celebrating his upset victory. It was an incredibly awkward scene as Ref Pat frantically scrambled to tell everyone that he didn’t stop the fight because of a KO, and subsequently: the decision of the fight would be determined by the judge’s scorecards.

Who knows whether Vargas would have knocked out Bradley for good in those ten seconds that were robbed from him, but, good lord: between this and the Pacquiao decision, Tim Bradley is either the luckiest human or the world, or, there is something shady as hell going on here/every time this dude fights.

How does this keep happening? Foul play involved?

Here is Russell’s (and the fighters’) post-match interview, you be the judge….