HS graduate Tim Bradley is involved in the biggest fight of his professional boxing career Nov. 14 against Joel Casamayor in Las Vegas on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight on HBO pay per view. Digital storytellers Brizza De La Garza and Joseph Arzuaga sat down with Bradley Friday morning at this training camp to find out his thoughts about next Saturday’s bout. To watch the fight and raise money for CCHS athletics, join us Saturday, Nov. 14 at Buffalo Wild Wings. Admittance is $10 and a percentage of the proceeds go to CCHS athletics.
How big is this upcoming fight for your career and your life?
This upcoming fight is a breakout moment. I want to say that it’s a new beginning of my career. I am with a different promoter [Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing]. This is a very, very important fight for me and my career due to the fact that I have everything to lose in this fight. I’m fighting against an old veteran, Joel Casamayor, who’s a dangerous fighter. He can make you look sloppy at times. I’m prepared. I’m prepared for anything he brings. But it’s very important for me to win this fight in good fashion because there’s going to be millions and millions of viewers watching this fight. Some hardcore boxing fan and some fans that just watch just big fights. They don’t watch boxing constantly, every week or every month. So it’s a huge stage that’s on this Manny Pacquiao undercard on this semi-big event. I’m just blessed and I’m hungry to show the world what I got.
What kind of exposure can you get from fighting on undercard of the Pacquiao fight?
When you get the crossover fans, the fans that I haven’t reached yet, I have an opportunity to reach out and try to draw them in and let them know who Timothy Bradley is.
What do you know exactly about your opponent?
I know my opponent. He’s very experienced. He has power, a lot of power in his left hand. He’s a southpaw. He’s very crafty. He can be dirty at times in the ring. That’s pretty much it. He’s a tremendous boxer. In his prime, he was one of the best fighters in pound-for-pound in the game. That’s pretty much what I know about him.
If you win, do you think your next fight will be against Pacquiao?
I don’t know if I’m gonna have a fight with Pacquiao. As you saw last week, a lot of people were talking about Mayweather versus Pacquiao. He says he has verbally agreed to fight him in May. I need to wait to see how true that is after November 12. Pacquiao has to take care of Marquez before he even thinks about Mayweather. But definitely, I would love to fight Pacquiao someday.
What’s been your training schedule for this upcoming fight?
I train at ten o’clock in the morning. On sparring days, I run at night. I run at about 8:30 at night. I run about eight miles a day. On non sparring days, I get up in the morning and I run for about 45 minutes. So I do about five miles in 45 minutes every other day because I spar three times a week. Also, I have strengthening and conditioning training that I do twice a week, one on Tuesdays. Tuesdays would normally be my three days. I train three times a day. Thursdays are number three days, from running in the morning to boxing training and to strengthening addition training. And then I have strength training and then I also have sprint training. So I have to do squint sprints and be on the track for about three hours every Tuesday. Very, very tough regimen. I’ve been doing this for the last three months. I’ve been strength training since February, been running since February. So I’m in great shape.
How does it feel to be a new daddy?
It’s awesome. It feels great to be a new daddy. You know why? Because you can have the worst day of your life at work being away from home and then you come home and you see that baby and nothing else matters. She’s been a joy, a joy to me, my wife, the kids, and the family. She just brings joy to our lives. Every time she smiles, I light up. Every time she smiles, I just can’t believe it. I see a part of me in her. I see a part of her mom in there. I just wonder what personality she’s gonna have. But it’s been great.
How old is she right now?
She’s three months.
What’s her name?
Her name is Jada Nicolete Bradley.
How has all the fame changed you if it all?
Fame hasn’t changed me because I’m still me. You know I can still eat at McDonalds and go eat at Denny’s and just hang with everybody. You know I haven’t change one bit. The fame normally changes people around you because then you know, there’s certain people that are around you that are just in it, they want to be around you because you have certain things or they want to latch on to you, you know they want to get money from you. Other than that I keep a lot of positive people around me, I really haven’t had too much problems with any one, I ‘am pretty much friendly with everybody. I accept people how they are, and I give them the benefit of there doubt once they screw themselves or shoots themselves in the foot then that’s when on longer we can hang out or be friends, I keep my distance but in it all bro, Fame, I’m still the same old dude man I was when I was in High School friendly, cordial with people very effected, receptive to all my fans I’m never going to change dude. Never going to change no matter how much money I make, how much fame I get I’m still going to be me.
What do you want to say to all the people that supported you in the valley?
You know what, I just want to thank everybody, I mean the list is huge. From my peers to teachers, from doctors, from friends, family. You know I just want to thank everybody for just believing in me and following me and definitely supporting me. It means a lot to me. Hard work does pay off sooner or later, and it is very important to get that support because without that support it’s hard to stay motivated. I am honored to be a role model to a lot of kids out there. I am honored to be in a lot of different youth groups and anything out there that I can help. I’m definitely going to lend a hand and try to help out anybody that tries to do something or be something in their life or go somewhere. Giving back is the main thing. Just receiving and being blessed is great, but giving back is the ultimate thing that you can do in your life, man. Helping others, that’s the best thing. God gave us love so we can do that, so we can help others, man. That’s the most important thing.
This interview was transcribed by Cindy Yanez.
