Tim Bradley was rocked to his core in the final moments of a thrilling fight.
During his time as a professional boxer, ‘Desert Storm’ delivered many an epic encounter, with fans around the world making sure they tuned in every time he set foot inside the ring.
His bouts with Manny Pacquiao made for huge attractions, and his showdown with Ruslan Provodnikov is still remembered fondly to this day.
However, nothing was quite as dramatic as the ending of his bout with ‘La Nueva Generación’.
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Tim Bradley vs Jessie Vargas finished in bizarre circumstances
On June 27, 2015, Tim Bradley went to war with Jessie Vargas for the WBO interim welterweight world title, in front of a raucous crowd at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, USA.
Determined to claim the belt for himself, Bradley produced a sparkling performance, landing classy shots on his rival.
However, while Vargas was dominated for large portions of the contest, in a testament to his ferocious fighting heart, he refused to give in, doing everything in his power to try and find the punch that would turn his fortunes around.
And in the last round, he landed it, in the form of a monstrous right hand with just over 20 seconds to go.
In a world of trouble, Bradley wobbled badly, with his opponent attacking, knowing this was his chance to pull off a remarkable comeback.
Vargas connected with thudding headshots, and looked on the cusp of securing the stoppage, until the referee heard the ten-second warning and mistakenly thought the contest was over.
With seven-eight seconds left, he called a halt to the action, leading the Mexican-American into believing he’d won the fight.
Vargas began celebrating wildly, only to discover that the official had made an error, which was ruled impossible to fix.
Much to the underdog’s dismay, Bradley was awarded the decision.
Did Jessie Vargas rematch Tim Bradley?
Following the fight, Vargas launched an appeal to try and have the verdict changed to a No-Contest.
However, the result stood.
Of course, the official loser of the contest wanted a rematch, but it never came to fruition.
Regardless, Vargas’ best day was still ahead of him, as on March 5, 2016, he knocked out Sadam Ali to claim the full version of the WBO welterweight world title.