On Saturday, before Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez resume their battle, Tim Bradley will try to put a good ending on a difficult year. The past year has hardly been the highlight of Tim Bradley?s career. The young and talented Jr. Welterweight title holder has been more involved in business than boxing in a year that saw him make several big changes to his inner circle.
Bradley began the year defeating Devon Alexander on January 29 by technical decision after a clash of heads in the tenth round. What was supposed to be a major fight between two young, talented, undefeated Americans turned into a dud of a fight with an unsatisfying ending. Alexander was given the majority of the blame for not engaging, but Bradley deservedly was criticized as well, especially for his head first style that caused multiple cuts on head butts.
Following the Alexander fight, the saving grace of a disappointing fight was supposed to be that Bradley and fellow 140lb top dog Amir Khan would get it on for supremacy in the division. Bradley was even offered a 50/50 split of all revenue including the UK money Khan generates. But then rumblings began that Bradley would pass and was far more interested in a fight with his promoter Gary Shaw than Amir Khan.
Bradley 27-0 (11 KO) felt that he was not being promoted properly and not being made into a star. So he passed on the fight with Khan, drawing heavy criticism from writers and fans that he was ducking the British titleholder. Bradley expressed he was not fazed by the critique and knew, along with manager Cameron Dunkin, he was doing what was needed to move his career forward.
?Cameron, myself, and my wife, we all sit down and talk a lot. We thought about what direction we want to take our career in. We saw that the other direction we were going in was not the right direction so we had to make some changes. Cameron has been in the game for twenty five years and last time we checked, criticism doesn?t pay the bills. So everyone can criticize and say whatever they want, it doesn?t pay the bills at all. Cameron believes that I?m a great champion, he believes I can compete with the best fighters in the world. I believe in him and that?s how we got through this, through all these hard times these last couple of months. I had to believe in Cameron, believe in my abilities, and believe in myself.?
