INDIO ? WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley said the death threats he received in his mail and on his phone were enough to bum him out following his victory over Manny Pacquiao last summer.
But it wasn?t enough for Bradley to feel threatened, as he never reported the incident to law enforcement.
?I just know people were mad. I didn?t have to report it. I was in my household. No one can bother me when I?m in my household. That?s all,? Bradley said Tuesday during a conference call with reporters to promote his March 16 fight against Ruslan Provodnikov in Carson. It will be Bradley?s first fight since his upset over Pacquiao.
Pressed on, Bradley said he didn?t see a point in reporting the threats.
?Nah, I didn?t really take them seriously at all. People are mad. That?s understandable to me,? Bradley said. ?What am I going to do? I don?t think they?re going to come to my house and take me out. I didn?t think that would happen.?
Bradley beat Pacquiao by split decision. A majority of media and fans felt Pacquiao had dominated the fight and were incensed afterward. In addition to the death threats, Bradley was hammered on the internet and the media. Some of the internet postings got personal, attacking Bradley?s family.
?I won?t worry about anyone else?s career and what they?re making, and just focus my career, my life and my family and stop reading all this garbage people are writing about me,? Bradley said. ?I told myself I won?t read that stuff ever again.?
The constant barrage eventually got to Bradley. In the aftermath, Bradley repeatedly told people he felt he won the fight, that he wasn?t hurt by Pacquiao, who was known as a brutal puncher. Bradley said he didn?t have any cuts or swelling after the fight.
But that didn?t stop the barrage, which got personal.
?I didn?t get any credit after the Pacquiao fight whatsoever,? Bradley said. ?People talk about me, my style being boring. Some people talk about my wife, some people talk about my kids. ? They said I wasn?t deserving and I should give the title back. It was a lot of different things that went on.
