Tim “Desert Storm” Bradley Beats Camarena

SANTA INEZ-Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley proved once again he can fight southpaws like rock-chinned Donald Camarena (18-4, 9 KOs) in winning a clear-cut decision win over the tough junior welterweight on Friday night.

Though shorter by a few inches Bradley fueled the crowd at Chumash Casino with a straight-forward attack of controlled aggression that typified the entire fight.

“I knew ahead of time he could fight,” said Bradley (20-0, 11 KOs). “He looks like he’s hurt but he keeps fighting.”

The quicker hands of Bradley proved too much of a riddle for Camarena who’s known as “Too slick, too quick”. From the very first round Indio’s Bradley had the superior hand and foot speed.

In the fifth round it looked like Camarena had discovered a chink in Bradley’s defense and began firing right jabs. But when both fighters tangled legs and the Indio fighter slipped to the floor it seemed to wake him up. A re-focused Bradley fired a right hand that jolted the Colorado fighter who fought his way through volley after volley.

“He was a good puncher,” said Bradley. “He was like a thug, a street fighter.”

Just when it seemed Bradley would overrun Camarena, the Colorado boxer would smile and say a few things.

“He was dog talking the whole fight,” said Bradley of Camarena’s comments throughout the fight. “I just stayed focused. I knew he would do that.”

With most of the punches landed by Bradley during the first six rounds, Camarena began finding more success with a body attack. In turn, Bradley began moving more laterally to offset the new strategy.

“I wanted to prove I’m a universal fighter. I can box and move too,” Bradley said.

At the end of the 10th and final round Camarena picked up Bradley as a sign of sportsmanship and to acknowledge the better fighter.

“He was the better fighter tonight and he was tough,” said Camarena, who’s fought other contenders like New York City’s Paul Malignaggi. “But I felt I won more rounds than the judges gave me.”

The judges scored it 100-90 and 99-91 twice for Bradley.

Other bouts

In a junior middleweight contest James Kirkland (19-0, 16 KOs) kept his record spotless against Ossie Duran (23-6, 9 KOs) after 10 rounds, but the crowd felt otherwise.

A quick knockdown from a Kirkland left hand seemed to show that Duran was over his head. But the New England-based fighter used his boxing skills to win over the fans with his tenacity and fortitude.

The judges scored it 97-92 twice and 95-94 for Kirkland.

New York’s Nick Casal (16-1, 12 KOs) captured a split-decision over Priest “Tiger” Smalls (18-14-1) in an eight round junior welterweight bout. Casal suffered a cut on his nose but was aggressive through most of the fight. Smalls used his height and reach to counter the rushing attack by Casal.

The judges scored it 77-75 for Smalls, 78-74, 77-75 for Casal.

Mexicali’s Alfredo Angulo manhandled Mexico City’s Israel Garcia in a junior middleweight bout. After several punishing rounds referee David Mendoza stopped the fight at 2:23 of the fourth round in favor of Angulo.

Angulo is a regular sparring partner for WBO welterweight titleholder Antonio Margarito and showed the skills inside.

San Diego’s KJ Noons (7-1, 5 KOs) powered through Anthony Cannon (2-4) in a six-round middleweight bout. The judges scored it unanimously 60-54 for Noons on all three cards.

Tijuana’s Antonio DeMarco (12-1-1, 10 KOs) had too much speed for Culiacan’s Yair Aguilar (7-10, 4 KOs) in a junior welterweight bout. Referee Mendoza stopped the fight at 1:01 in the third round for a technical knockout when DeMarco landed seven consecutive punches with no response from Aguilar..