I remember first crossing paths with current WBO and WBC junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley in March of 2008 while in Cancun, Mexico for my buddy Nate Campbell’s inspiring upset of then lightweight tilist Juan Diaz at the Plaza de Toros. Bradley was scheduled to face off with tough Mexican and proven terror Jose Luis Castillo that weekend but had to play the role of a spectator when the former champion weighed in a whopping seven pounds over the junior lightweight limit for their title eliminator, thus killing any chances of the fight happening.
Bradley and I talked briefly in the hotel lobby of the Palace Hotel and kept in touch sparingly over the coming months as a new door opened in his career as he was granted a crack at WBC king Junior Witter on his native United Kingdom turf. Bradley would end up shocking the masses by flooring his elder foe in the sixth round on his way towards capturing a clear decision in a fight many had expected him to lose badly.
It was a fine win for a fine young talent but looking back at those days it seems as though other aspects of Tim Bradley have rose to the surface, specifically a trash-talking side of himself that I never before expected. Whether a genuine change in heart or the realization that he must keep pace in finding ways to keep his name fresh in the spotlight, Bradley has shown some venom with his tongue in recent times.
Newsflash: Bert Sugar says HBO still has the edge over Showtime despite Pacquiao move
And he definitely is firing at the big names, most recently choosing to take some shots at WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino icon faces off with living legend Shane Mosley on May 7th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and Bradley himself is coming off of last weekend’s technical decision victory over Devon Alexander in Pontiac, Michigan.
The Palm Springs fighter is hoping the two can meet sometime later this year and during a recent interview with AOL Fanhouse’s Lem Satterfield he was candid with his belief that Pacquiao has never seen a fighter like him.
“I don’t think Manny Pacquiao has faced someone like me who has the skills and who can fight,” he coined. “I think that I, myself, if I fight the perfect fight, man, I know I can beat him. If I fight the perfect fight than I can beat Manny Pacquiao, no doubt.”
Pacquiao has shaken up the sport ever since his weight-rising thrashing of fellow superstar Oscar De La Hoya in December of 2008, a fight in which the former multi-division champ retired after getting bludgeoned for eight rounds. In his last three fights he has slayed former champions Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito but Bradley doesn’t see that bunch as being the type of threats that some made them out to be.
“They’re just putting Manny in there with stiffs man,” he continued. “They need to put Manny in there with guys who can actually punch and punch back. They need to put him in against someone who has some defense.”
As far as what Bradley brings to the table, he is very fast with his hands and feet and seems to have great resilience and focus inside of the ring. His youth and athleticism could also serve him well and you can tell just how desperate he is for a fight like this.
“Somebody who can offer it up and throw Manny off with some movement to isolate all of those punches that Manny likes to throw. We walk around at the same weight, so there’s really no excuses for him not to fight me. What’s [the] big deal? I mean, how much more do I need to do to get a shot at this guy?”
There isn’t much question that Bradley should be looked at as one of the leading candidates to face Pacquiao if he is successful against Mosley. However, realistically, the fight that would make a little more sense for him would be a showdown with fellow junior welterweight champion Amir Khan, who is coming off of a December 11th victory over Marcos Maidana at the Mandalay Bay.
A Bradley-Khan fight has it share of subplots and intrigue given the two fighter’s verbal barbs towards one another as well as the mesh of styles between them. After a fight like that, if victorious, than Bradley would certainly perk the public’s interest towards a Pacquiao fight even higher.
I recently talked to several people in the sport about Bradley’s victory over Alexander as well as his wishes of facing the likes of Khan, Maidana and Pacquiao. For an in depth analysis please click HERE
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
