According to the Associated Press, Timothy Bradley’s fists and head-butts got the best of St. Louis’ own Devon Alexander. Bradley defended his WBO 140-pound title and took Alexander’s WBC belt, winning a unanimous technical decision after the fight was stopped in the 10th round Saturday night at the Silverdome.
The ringside doctor ruled Alexander couldn’t keep his left eye open and halted the fight at 1:59 of the 10th after an accidental head-butt.
“I couldn’t see, so they had to stop the fight,” Alexander said.
Bradley (27-0) handed Alexander (21-1) his first loss in the biggest fight for each rising star.
“If that’s the best in the world, that’s weak,” Bradley said.
Both fighters took a risk by taking a bout either could lose, but the payoff could be huge.
The 27-year-old Bradley took a step toward a possible fight with Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. down the road, but WBA super lightweight champion Amir Khan could be his next opponent.
In a fight that had to be tough to score with each fighter throwing flurries of punches, the judges all had Bradley ahead in the bout — 97-93, 96-95 and 98-93 — when it was suddenly halted because Alexander’s left eye was burning so much he couldn’t open it.
Alexander needed four stitches to close a gash between his right eye and eyebrow and two to the side of his left eye.
“He wasn’t hitting me clean,” Alexander said. “I thought I was ahead in the fight.”
Dr. Peter Samet said he asked Alexander to open his left eye three times and he couldn’t do it.
“I feared temporary nerve damage, so I recommended to stop the fight,” Samet said.
Information from the Associated Press and Espn.com contributed to this report.