Not sure think Bradley, but not overly impressed by either although i would like the winner to fight Hatton.
Bradley's a very well-rounded fighter. Holt is the taller man, but lacks the discipline and efficiency of Bradley. If Holt fights a very smart fight using his height and reach, he could win. But I doubt he will over 12 rounds. So, I've got Bradley by SD.
Holt is definitely going to be the dawg in the fight. I think that will be the difference at the end of the day. I presonally find it difficult to really get behind Bradley because for all intense and purposes he's still a prospect. If you look at his career and just drop the belt he's being brought along the way you bring a long a good solid prospect. He fought about 20 nobody bums then stepped up against a decent knowledgable vetren fighter (who although he was a champoin was really about a top twenty fighter, but not a top fighter). He then fought a similar type guy with good skills but less size and no power. Now he's stepping in with a true top fighter, whose probably about the 6th or 7th best fighter in the division.
i think both of these guys are hard to rate, for different reasons. it will be, i think, a really interesting fight because bradley is, as some of you have pointed out, still an unknown quantity...his victory over witter might well have been a result of witter's slowing down as much as it might have been a result of bradley having a one time peak performance. hard to say. i mean witter, for obvious reasons, himself, will permanently have been an unknown quantity. bradley looks sharp, economical, smart, in general, if undersized and a bit overmuscled for the division. he's a tricky boxer, no doubt about that. holt, to me, because of his electric style, because he gets hit in every match and seems to take scars with every fight, looks old before his time. the torres fights really looked to seal the fact that he will be gutted before 30. i like the guy and he's given us some great fights, but he just looks increasingly spent to me. even the look on his face says he is willing himself through what the body doesn't want anymore. he's a puncher and will always have a puncher's advantages, chances...i guess we'll see if he can squeeze a bit more out of the tube, as it is. if holt looks fresh, i've got him by late stoppage victory. but bradley is, beyond any doubt, really fresh and has tons left in the tank for this fight. in a boxer v. puncher matchup, i wonder if the fresher guy doesn't have better odds of cruising than getting taken by a bomb.
Are you kidding? Junior Witter was a clear #2 in the division when Bradley beat him. Also, he was all set to face Jose Luis Castillo (on the Peter-Maskaev undercard I believe), but then Castillo missed weight and punked out of the fight at the last second. Holt has faced the tougher opposition overall, but he has a very sketchy chin and he rarely fights smart. Holt is a lot quicker than Bradley, and I think he'll look great for a few rounds by flashing that speed, but he'll slow down as Bradley works the body early on, and eventually Bradley will catch up with him and knock him out.
i come out differently, but i can definitely see the potential that the fight unravels the way you see it.