‘Desert Storm’ looked on course for a routine victory until the left side of his face began to obscure his view, although despite Bradley being hampered by the injury – he had on first view done enough to take the decision win.
Surprisingly, the three judges at ringside carded 115-113 for Bradley, 116-112 for Chaves and 114-114 to rob the ex-WBO welterweight title holder of what should have been at 32nd career triumph.
In the co-feature, Andy Lee was seemingly on his way to a points defeat by undefeated Matt Korobov at the halfway stage when the Irishman unleashed a massive right hand that set-up a sixth round world title victory.
The 30 year-old was rocked himself by a left hand from Korobov just prior to producing his own cracking get-out-of-jail-free punch and in the process claimed the vacant WBO middleweight title.
Previously trained by the late great Emanuel Steward at the famous Kronk Gym, Lee dedicated the victory to his former mentor and could now be set to defend his new belt at home in Dublin, Ireland in the spring of 2015.
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