Nate Campbell and Timothy Bradley are going to throw down on August 1 and in the spirit of boxing’s current trend of placing fights where they make sense, Campbell – Bradley will be hosted by the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California.
Bradley is one of the best fighters in the junior welterweight division, not named Manny Pacquiao, and has been building-up his status by beating Kendall Holt and Junior Witter in arenas far away from home. But now Bradley will hold a home-court advantage when fighting Nate Campbell less than ten miles from his hometown of Palm Springs.
Good news for Bradley and the business of boxing.
Facing a tough economic landscape, declining television dates and the money that comes with these slots, and a shrinking fan base, promoters have been forced to take boxing shows away from big casino cities such as Las Vegas, and put the action near the fighter’s hometowns in an attempt to sell tickets.
During recent The Boxing Truth Radio episodes, John Chavez and myself have argued Bradley is an excellent young fighter and Campbell is a wily old road warrior, if they were to fight – a venue near or around Palm Springs would make sense.
My hat goes off to Bradley’s promoters Gary Shaw and Ken Thompson for making the fight and placing it in the proper venue, along with the assistance of Campbell’s promoter Don King.
Bradley, who unified the WBO and WBC championships earlier this year – only to vacate the WBC strap, will enter the ring with a perfect record of 24-0, 11 KOs to face one of the sport’s best operators in Campbell, who owns a record of 33-5, 25 KOs. And if you think fighting at home makes Bradley the favorite, guess again, Campbell’s well-balanced style and experience should make him the favorite in this clash.
The event will take place in Agua Caliente’s new 2,000 seat arena and broadcast on Showtime’s Championship Boxing.
Lois’ Favorite Fights – This week I reach into the early 2000 vault to pick a somewhat forgotten classic from 2003, overshadowed by contemporary clashes with Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward. Has there ever been a better crusierweight fight than the performance put on by James Toney and Vassilly Jirov? Do not miss Coach Freddie Roach telling his pupil Toney to put his man down before the final round. Click here to watch the entire fight!
