Days after a tragic accident in the boxing ring claimed the life of 24-year-old boxer, Simiso Buthelezi, Tim Bradley Jr. made some unfortunate commentary regarding it while announcing another fight.
During a fight against Edgar Berlanga, Roamer Alexis Angulo, Angulo went to a neutral corner between rounds, then turned to go towards Berland’s corner before finally going to the correct corner.
At that point, Bradley referenced Buthelezi, who was shadowboxing with his back to his actual opponent as the fight that ultimately claimed his life was coming to an end. Tessitore laughed at the story.
The video of Buthelezi, which is troubling to watch, can be seen here.
Bradley and Tessitore did not know at the time was that Buthelezi, passed away shortly after the incident.
Other people, however, did know about the situation and pointed it out.
Joe Tessitore and Tim Bradley chuckling about the Simiso Buthelezi video. Do they not know he died?
— MVO Uncensored & Brunch Boxing Cohost (Matt) (@izdatyofaceee) June 12, 2022
https://twitter.com/trotmanboxing/status/1535840954569080833
Bradley and Tessitore’s lack of knowledge of the situation is even worse when we remember that, before the fight that they were calling, a moment of silence was held for Buthelezi.
Bradley did eventually acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and offered an apology.
All things considered, Bradley handled it about as well as he could have after he found out what happened. But unfortunately, that’s pretty minor after such a massive mistake. It’s incomprehensible that commentators for a major network like ESPN would be so clueless about such a recent, serious matter in a sport they were announcing.