Timothy Bradley Jr. wasn’t expecting to hear from Manny Pacquiao again. But the World Boxing Organization welterweight super champion is glad Pacquiao reached out to him as his opponent for April 9.
“Honestly, I didn’t think he’d call,” Bradley said Tuesday in Los Angeles before he and Pacquiao kicked off the promotion for what will be their third fight against each other. “But I think it was meant to be.”
Bradley, 32, who is now being trained by Teddy Atlas, has already begun preparations for the trilogy at the MGM Grand Garden. Atlas is putting together the game plan and come Feb. 15, Bradley will open his training camp at his gym in Indio, Calif.
“I need six good weeks and I’m ready,” said Bradley (33-1-1, 13 knockouts). “I’m going to train hard like I always do, but I’m also going to train smart.
“Here’s the thing; we know Pacquiao. There’s no secrets. We know what he’s going to do. I’ve been in the ring with him twice. I know what to expect. So we don’t need eight weeks to prepare.
“If it was someone I’ve never fought, that might be different. We might want to take a little more time to make sure we don’t overlook anything. But with Pacquiao, we’re already familiar with him.”
Atlas said he sees flaws in the 37-year-old congressman from the Philippines who is 57-6-2 with 38 KOs. He said he will have a plan to exploit those flaws and take advantage of Bradley’s strengths, much the same way he did when Bradley knocked out Brandon Rios in their first fight together back on Nov. 7 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“What Tim did against Rios is only the beginning,” Atlas said. “We only had six weeks together for that fight. But we know each other a lot better and we’re going to build on what Tim did in his last fight.
“The foundation has been laid. Now we’re going to finish building the house.”
VARGAS-ALI TALKS ? It has taken several months of negotiating but it appears Las Vegas welterweight Jessie Vargas and Sadam Ali are on the verge of making a deal to fight each other.
According to Vargas’ manager Cameron Dunkin, the fight will be March 5 at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, on HBO and would be for the WBO regular title which Bradley had held before being promoted to super champion.
“We’re trying to get it done,” Dunkin said Thursday. “It’s been a tough negotiation, but this is a fight that makes sense and both sides want it. It’s just a matter of getting the details worked out and finalized.”
Vargas (26-1, nine KOs) hasn’t fought since losing a 12-round unanimous decision to Bradley last June 27 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Ali, a 2008 Olympian from Brooklyn, New York, last fought on April 25 when he won a 10-round unanimous decision over Francisco Santana at Madison Square Garden.
The fight was unable to be made last year because Vargas refused to fight in New York and Ali didn’t want to fight in Las Vegas or California. But Ali apparently has relented on California and if the March 5 date is going to happen, Dunkin said an agreement needs to be reached soon.
“We’re getting to the point where we have to make a decision one way or the other,” he said. “Top Rank (Vargas’ promoter) and HBO both want an answer.”
THURMAN-PORTER SET ? The much anticipated welterweight showdown between Shawn Porter an World Boxing Association champ Keith Thurman has finally found a date and a home and a network to televise the 12-round title bout.
Thurman-Porter will be March 12 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. CBS will televise the scheduled 12-round fight, which will be promoted by DiBella Entertainment as part of the Premier Boxing Champions series.
The fight was initially targeted for March 5 in Las Vegas. But when the two sides couldn’t come to terms, they gave up the MGM Grand date and the fight landed at Mohegan Sun.
SANTA CRUZ RETURNS ? World featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz makes the first defense of his WBA title on Feb. 27 when he faces Kiko Martinez at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Showtime.
Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17 KOs), who is from Rosemead, Calif., is coming off a sensational performance on Aug. 29 when he defeated Abner Mares in a 12-round majority decision at the Staples Center in one of boxing’s best fights of 2015. Santa Cruz, who also has won world titles at 118 and 122 pounds, has fought in world title fights in 10 of his last 12 ring appearances.
“I’ve been in the gym staying ready for anyone that’s put in front of me,” Santa Cruz said. “I’m going to be 100 percent ready for this fight and I plan to go out there and look great.”
Martinez (35-6, 26 KOs) is a former International Boxing Federation super bantamweight champion. The 29-year-old from Valenciana, Spain, moved up to 126 pounds last year and won both of his fights as a featherweight.
