Strange ending mars Timothy Bradley's decision victory against Jessie Vargas

CARSON, Calif. - Jessie Vargas sprinted around the squared circle, hands raised high in disbelief.

Referee Pat Russell had just waved his hands to signal the end of the bout after Vargas, down on the scorecards with around seven seconds left in the final round, had socked Timothy Bradley with a huge overhand right.

Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs) stumbled after absorbing the massive punch and was clearly hurt. He reeled around the ring as Vargas went in to finish him, but then, suddenly, the fight abruptly ended. Only Vargas (26-1, 9 KOs) didn't win at all. Russell didn't wave his hands to represent that he was stopping the fight due to Bradley being hurt. The ref simply thought he heard the final bell and ended the fight prematurely.

It took a few minutes for ringside officials to sort everything out - even Bradley protested with the ref - but in the end, Bradley won. He earned a unanimous decision (scores of 115-112, 116-112 and 117-111) to win the interim WBO welterweight title in the HBO main event before 4,711 at the StubHub Center, an event mired in so much confusion and controversy only boxing could produce it.

"I got hit hard, I went back and all of a sudden the referee started waving his hands," a bewildered Bradley stated. "I really didn't know what was going on. I didn't. I thought we were being separated in a clinch."

At first, Bradley was upset because he thought Russell was giving Vargas the TKO victory. That would have been a bad call - Bradley was badly hurt but OK to continue. Russell ended up affecting Vargas' chances to salvage a wild upset, though, and the world will never know what would have happened.

"I heard something, I hit him with three or four shots, it was still going on, it was seven seconds left, all I needed was one more shot," Vargas said in dismay. "Those seven seconds cost me the fight. I was buzzing him with my counter rights throughout the fight."

"… Bradley came up to me after the fight before we knew what was going on and said 'You're a great champion' and gave me all kinds of props."

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Russell, who was heavily booed for his handling of the ending, said he simply mistook the 10-second warning clap for the final bell.

"So the fight was over when the bell went off," he said. "It sounded like the bell to me. But you don't always hear the 10-second warning, you like to, though. I made the call that I made based on what I heard. It was an honest decision on an honest issue."

Bradley, 31, controlled the action and was able to land punishing overhand rights at will throughout the 12-round affair. The two-division champion is one of the best fighters in the sport and proved he was simply in a different class than Vargas. After all, he owns victories over two future Hall of Famers (Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez) and Vargas was taking a big leap in opposition.

Vargas was originally trained by Roy Jones Jr. in preparation for this bout, but switched to Erik Morales less than one mouth out. The Mexican legend promised Vargas would come forward and throw big shots, but the plan didn't come to fruition. Instead, the 26-year-old used his four-inch height advantage and attempted to pick the hard-charging Bradley off with counter right hands.

When Vargas threw his jab, it was effective, but he seemed tired during the majority over the second half of the bout until he connected on the money punch.

The controversial ending is another in a series for "Desert Storm." He was on the right end of the most controversial fight of the past 10 years when he beat Manny Pacquiao in 2012, a decision that caused a firestorm and prompted a statewide investigation in Nevada. Bradley's last bout was a draw against Diego Chavez in a bout most observers thought he clearly won. Bradley was hoping to prevail without controversy on this night, but it was out of reach.

"I don't have to defend anything," Bradley declared. "He caught me with a good shot at the end. The ref thought he heard the bell. I was good enough. I could have maintained. I held on to him. I was squeezing him so tight like his mom was hugging him. We'll do it again."

The Palm Springs, Calif.-based fighter claimed the interim WBO title with the victory, a version of the same title he won from Pacquiao. Saturday's contest was originally slated to crown a new WBO champion, but Floyd Mayweather says he might now keep the belt he won from Pacquiao. Bradley will be recognized as the world champion (and not interim) if Mayweather decides to vacate the belt (which is likely), and he has until July 3 to make a choice.

Vargas, who held a title at 140 pounds, returned to 147 for the opportunity. The Las Vegas resident made two successful defenses of the WBA belt he won from Khabib Allakhverdiev in April 2014. Vargas had his moments Saturday, but didn't move his head enough and didn't apply enough pressure. It's not easy to outbox Bradley, and Bob Arum cautioned it would be unwise to try.

"He's slowing down, he's not the same fighter he was," Morales said through translator Ricardo Jimenez. "Jessie's a younger guy, not as experience as Tim is, but I think he showed us tonight he can become a better fighter. … I think this was a great learning experience."

He didn't get the win, but Vargas improved his stock in defeat after the furious finish. He said he needed "one more punch" and says he will fight to get the decision reversed to a no contest. Vargas hopes an overruling would lead to an immediate rematch.

"That stoppage could possibly save Tim Bradley's career, life," said Vargas, who added his right hand went numb during the bout and affected his timing. "I think (Russell) was protecting him."

Said Bradley: "That was one shot he landed over the top and he thinks he can beat me? I'm not in the rematch business. He's going to cry wolf because he doesn't think he got a fair shot. A rematch? What for? Sour grapes."

"I was coherent. He threw a left hook to the body and a left hook to the head (after he hurt me) and I blocked both shots. Ten seconds or not, he would not finish me off. (Ruslan) Provodnikov couldn't finish me, so he couldn't finish me off."

If there's no rematch next, Bradley could face Sadam Ali in November, the main event of a card Arum is planning for Dubai. Or Bradley could face middleweight destroyer Gennady Golovkin, a man he called out again after the fight. A move to junior middleweight is even possible.

Whomever Bradley fights next, we know it will be filled with drama.

Timothy Bradley Jr. celebrates after defeating Jessie Vargas (Photo: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)