Timothy Bradley Juan Manuel Marquez
Reuters

Timothy Bradley retained his WBO welterweight title by earning a split decision over Juan Manual Marquez on Saturday night at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

After 12 rounds, the 30-year-old American won over two judges 115-113 and 116-112, and Marquez took one scorecard 115-113.

Spending much of the night eluding Marquez and forcing him to miss, Bradley remains undefeated at 30-0 with 12 KOs, but Saturday marked the ninth decision of his last 11 fights.

Obviously upset about the loss, Marquez said there was only one way for him to win a fight in Las Vegas.

"To be here in Vegas, I have to get a knockout to get the victory," Marquez said in the post-fight news conference according to USA Today. "I need to be more afraid of the judges than my opponent."

Marquez’s trainer Nacho Beristain also eluded to some of the controversy surrounding two of Bradley’s victories, and the validity of the American’s perfect record.

"He is the only champion with two losses," Beristain said.

Despite the frustration coming out of the Marquez camp, the fight stats show Bradley connected on 168 of his 562 punches, compared to a 153 to 455 ratio for the Mexican. Bradley also controlled the fight’s tempo by landing 82 of his 337 jabs.

Marquez is now 55-7-1 with 40 KOs, but could have sensed a decision wasn’t going to be in his favor. His three losses over the last four years have all been decided by the judges.

Boxing