Timothy ?Desert Storm? Bradley, also known as the Invisible Man of boxing, is scheduled to reappear in the ring on March 16. Bradley will be defending his WBO welterweight title against that sanctioning body?s #2 contender, one Ruslan Provodkinov. This will be Bradley?s first outing since his upset decision win over Manny Pacquiao on June 9 of last year. That result was an ?upset? in more ways than one. The decision in Bradley?s favor was unexpected, and it upset a horde of ringsiders and TV viewers who firmly believed Pacquiao deserved the win.
The controversy surrounding his victory over the man who was previously at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings made Bradley the focal point of attention in the boxing world ? although not in the way he would have preferred. Instead of being hailed as ?the man who beat The Man,? Bradley was condemned as the recipient of a robbery at the ands of inept officials ? judicial error, if you will. There was only one way this brouhaha could be resolved: Bradley and Pacquiao had to fight each other again. The rematch was a natural, and it should not have been difficult to make.
But ? it didn?t happen. Pacquiao opted for a fourth meeting with his nemesis, Juan Manuel Marquez, rather than settling his more immediate score with Bradley. Whatever the Pacquiao team?s calculations may have been in their decision to put Manny in with Marquez instead of Bradley, they backfired explosively when a picture-perfect counter right by Marquez laid Manny out for the count in their December encounter.
Meanwhile, Bradley became the Forgotten Man, the Invisible Man. Not only did the Pacquiao rematch elude him; he did not fight again at all during the remainder of 2012. Whatever cachet Bradley may have gained in his disputed points verdict over Pacquiao was trumped by Marquez?s dramatic knockout of the Filipino. Here was Bradley, himself a legitimate Top-10 pound-for-pounder, languishing on the shelf while lesser fighters collected big paydays. Only in boxing ?
Now Bradley gets a chance to make an at-least half-decent payday against an opponent who is several levels below the likes of Marquez, Pacquiao, or Floyd Mayweather Jr. With a record of 22 wins and one loss, with 15 stoppages, Provodnikov is ranked 10th by The Ring magazine ? at junior welterweight, one division below the 147-pounders. Then again, Bradley ? still undefeated at 29-0 (12 KOs) ? was himself a 140-pounder not so long ago.
Provodnikov can punch a bit ? certainly better the notorious non-knockout artist Bradley. The Russian?s lone loss was a decision he dropped to unheralded Mauricio Herrera back in 2007. However, Provodkinov has stopped four of his last five opponents, so he?s coming into the Bradley bout on something of a roll.
Bradley will be the favorite in this bout, though, and rightly so. There are some intriguing intangibles, however. How will Bradley?s long layoff affect his timing, which is one of his strong points? Did the vilification that was heaped on him after the Pacquiao mess get under his skin? Will he take Provodnikov too lightly?
An upset win for Provodnikov is is possible. But it?s also unlikely.
Then again, aren?t all upsets unlikely?
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His award-winning novel, Damballa, which centers around a fictional heavyweight title bout, is available at Amazon.com.
