Junior welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr. has endured a difficult year.
• He has been savaged by fans and media for refusing to face fellow titleholder Amir Khan on July 23 on HBO -- despite a 50-50 offer and career-high payday of at least $1.4 million -- when he was the one who called out Khan in the first place.
• He is facing a breach-of-contract lawsuit from former co-promoters Gary Shaw and Ken Thompson.
• And he has been stripped of one of his world title belts, supposedly for inactivity and the uncertainty of his schedule caused by the lawsuit. To that, Bradley said, "When I heard about it, I was like, 'To hell with [the WBC].' I had been stripped by them before. It's like breaking up with somebody. Whatever. That's one less sanctioning fee I have to pay. I thought it was funny that stripping me was the only way they could get the championship away from me."
Not much has gone right in 2011 for Bradley, other than his wife giving birth to their baby girl, Jada, on July 31.
Even Bradley's 10th-round technical decision win against Devon Alexander to unify two 140-pound titles on Jan. 29 was critically panned because of its lack of action and an unsatisfying ending that was a result of several accidental head-butts.
Yet Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs), who hasn't fought since, finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel. The Palm Springs, Calif., native signed this week with Top Rank, despite the lawsuit and the possibility of more litigation from Shaw and Thompson against Top Rank. He was then booked to defend his remaining belt against faded former lightweight champion Joel Casamayor in the co-featured bout on the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III HBO PPV card Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Bradley said co-manager Cameron Dunkin had been talking with Top Rank for a few months and eventually got the "go-ahead from the lawyer" to sign. Top Rank's Bob Arum said he isn't concerned about the lawsuit or another he could face from Shaw and Thompson.
"Lawsuit -- the attorneys can address it," Arum said. "We got the go-ahead to sign Tim from our attorneys and we signed him."
It didn't take much convincing for Bradley to make the move.
"I told Cameron that I wanted to be with a real promoter and that I wanted to be promoted. That is what it boiled down to," Bradley said. "Top Rank, man, they are the best promotional company in the world and I wanted to be part of this team. The way they do it, they're always three, four steps ahead of everyone."
As far as the lawsuit goes, Bradley said, "I'll let the lawyers handle all of that. My concern is Nov. 12 against Casamayor. He's still a dangerous fighter. He gets up for big fights. He has a tremendous amount of skill, although he's older. He can still fight."
Arum said he didn't care about wide criticism of the Casamayor bout being a mismatch.
"Who cares what they say," Arum said. "We thought it was a good fight for Tim given the layoff. We went to [Golden Boy's Richard] Schaefer to see if we could get [Marcos] Maidana and [Schaefer] wasn't interested. I don't blame him. He probably has other guys to match him with. But we tried."
Before signing with Top Rank, there were settlement discussions between Shaw and Thompson and Bradley's camp. Leon Margules, a promoter who is also the lawyer representing Shaw and Thompson in the suit, declined to comment on Bradley's signing with Top Rank or any settlement discussions.
Bradley said he never felt appreciated or promoted properly by his previous promoters.
"There were many times where I approached Thompson and Gary and wanted to talk about the contract and different things, and the direction they wanted to take me in, but they shined me off all the time," Bradley said. "I didn't agree with that. I was promised the world and they didn't deliver. As far as business goes, I feel I made the right move for my career. I'm 28, still in my prime -- I hope. I definitely need to make use of these years.
"I only fought twice in the last two years. I've captured three world championships, and you walk outside and ask people and nobody knows me."
Arum has started trying to change that. In announcing Bradley's signing this week, Arum hosted a media lunch for Bradley in Beverly Hills to get the ball rolling.
"We're very excited to promote Bradley," Arum said. "We think he can be a future superstar. He's personable and a very good fighter. We're going to really build him."
Bradley said Top Rank has a plan for him, something he said Shaw and Thompson never had. If all goes well against Casamayor (38-5-1, 22 KOs), who is a big underdog, Bradley would return in the first quarter of 2012.
"I just want to be busy," Bradley said. "I'm willing to fight at 147 or 140 -- whatever weight they want me to fight at."
Of course, by fighting Casamayor (a southpaw like Pacquiao) on Pacquiao's undercard, it's quite obvious that Arum is lining up Bradley as a possible future Pacquiao opponent. No secret there.
However, Bradley said he has received no such assurances from Arum -- just the promise that his name will be on the short list if Pacquiao beats Marquez and a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn't materialize.
"My contract with Top Rank doesn't say I'm guaranteed Pacquiao," Bradley said. "But Top Rank is going to promote me. If the Manny Pacquiao fight does come about, that's great. The focus is not just Manny Pacquiao. I have to win on Nov. 12, just like he's gotta win Nov. 12. Then we could have that option. But Bob says he hasn't spoken to Manny's camp about us fighting. And he hasn't had to talk to me about it because he knows I want to fight him.
"If I get Pacquiao, I'd be the happiest man on the planet. I feel I deserve it. I don't care what anybody thinks. I definitely have the credibility and the ability to give Manny Pacquiao a good fight."
Said Arum: "Everybody said we did this because there is a deal for him to fight Pacquiao, and that is just not true. We made it very plain to him that we have never discussed him with Manny or [trainer] Freddie [Roach] and we aren't going to even think about that until after Nov. 12."
Bradley said the past 10 months have been difficult, but he is excited to get back to work and does not regret turning down the fight with Khan, a fight HBO thought it was going to get in July.
"I was supposed to become a star after I beat Alexander, and it didn't happen," Bradley said. "If I beat Amir Khan, it wouldn't have done anything for my career. Would it have put me in position to fight Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather? Not necessarily."
Bradley claims his former promoters were contractually obligated to get him a fight by June 30. Since the Khan fight would have been almost a month later, he said his promotional deal was up. Shaw has said he had an agreement with Dunkin to extend the date because HBO couldn't accommodate the fight before June 30.
"I wanted to fight before June 30," Bradley said. "I come off the fight with Devon and immediately he gets a fight [June 24] and I beat him. And [Shaw and Thompson] wanted me to extend my contract until July 23? I wasn't willing to do it. The money was lucrative with Amir Khan, but I wanted to be promoted and I felt like taking that fight then wouldn't have done anything for my career. We can fight a year or two from now [at welterweight]. There's nothing wrong with that. [Not taking the fight] had nothing to do with the offer. The offer was fine. I wanted to be promoted."
"It's been very frustrating. Last year, I only fought once. I don't understand why. I was coming off one of the biggest wins of my career against [Lamont] Peterson. I was like, 'Let's keep the ball rolling.' They didn't have a fight for me. I was expecting to continue on a roll. But there was never a plan. That's what really bothered me. What is the plan?"
Now, it seems, Bradley has one in place.
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7070226/timothy-bradley-bad-year-turns-better-busier
• He has been savaged by fans and media for refusing to face fellow titleholder Amir Khan on July 23 on HBO -- despite a 50-50 offer and career-high payday of at least $1.4 million -- when he was the one who called out Khan in the first place.
• He is facing a breach-of-contract lawsuit from former co-promoters Gary Shaw and Ken Thompson.
• And he has been stripped of one of his world title belts, supposedly for inactivity and the uncertainty of his schedule caused by the lawsuit. To that, Bradley said, "When I heard about it, I was like, 'To hell with [the WBC].' I had been stripped by them before. It's like breaking up with somebody. Whatever. That's one less sanctioning fee I have to pay. I thought it was funny that stripping me was the only way they could get the championship away from me."
Not much has gone right in 2011 for Bradley, other than his wife giving birth to their baby girl, Jada, on July 31.
Even Bradley's 10th-round technical decision win against Devon Alexander to unify two 140-pound titles on Jan. 29 was critically panned because of its lack of action and an unsatisfying ending that was a result of several accidental head-butts.
Yet Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs), who hasn't fought since, finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel. The Palm Springs, Calif., native signed this week with Top Rank, despite the lawsuit and the possibility of more litigation from Shaw and Thompson against Top Rank. He was then booked to defend his remaining belt against faded former lightweight champion Joel Casamayor in the co-featured bout on the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III HBO PPV card Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Bradley said co-manager Cameron Dunkin had been talking with Top Rank for a few months and eventually got the "go-ahead from the lawyer" to sign. Top Rank's Bob Arum said he isn't concerned about the lawsuit or another he could face from Shaw and Thompson.
"Lawsuit -- the attorneys can address it," Arum said. "We got the go-ahead to sign Tim from our attorneys and we signed him."
It didn't take much convincing for Bradley to make the move.
"I told Cameron that I wanted to be with a real promoter and that I wanted to be promoted. That is what it boiled down to," Bradley said. "Top Rank, man, they are the best promotional company in the world and I wanted to be part of this team. The way they do it, they're always three, four steps ahead of everyone."
As far as the lawsuit goes, Bradley said, "I'll let the lawyers handle all of that. My concern is Nov. 12 against Casamayor. He's still a dangerous fighter. He gets up for big fights. He has a tremendous amount of skill, although he's older. He can still fight."
Arum said he didn't care about wide criticism of the Casamayor bout being a mismatch.
"Who cares what they say," Arum said. "We thought it was a good fight for Tim given the layoff. We went to [Golden Boy's Richard] Schaefer to see if we could get [Marcos] Maidana and [Schaefer] wasn't interested. I don't blame him. He probably has other guys to match him with. But we tried."
Before signing with Top Rank, there were settlement discussions between Shaw and Thompson and Bradley's camp. Leon Margules, a promoter who is also the lawyer representing Shaw and Thompson in the suit, declined to comment on Bradley's signing with Top Rank or any settlement discussions.
Bradley said he never felt appreciated or promoted properly by his previous promoters.
"There were many times where I approached Thompson and Gary and wanted to talk about the contract and different things, and the direction they wanted to take me in, but they shined me off all the time," Bradley said. "I didn't agree with that. I was promised the world and they didn't deliver. As far as business goes, I feel I made the right move for my career. I'm 28, still in my prime -- I hope. I definitely need to make use of these years.
"I only fought twice in the last two years. I've captured three world championships, and you walk outside and ask people and nobody knows me."
Arum has started trying to change that. In announcing Bradley's signing this week, Arum hosted a media lunch for Bradley in Beverly Hills to get the ball rolling.
"We're very excited to promote Bradley," Arum said. "We think he can be a future superstar. He's personable and a very good fighter. We're going to really build him."
Bradley said Top Rank has a plan for him, something he said Shaw and Thompson never had. If all goes well against Casamayor (38-5-1, 22 KOs), who is a big underdog, Bradley would return in the first quarter of 2012.
"I just want to be busy," Bradley said. "I'm willing to fight at 147 or 140 -- whatever weight they want me to fight at."
Of course, by fighting Casamayor (a southpaw like Pacquiao) on Pacquiao's undercard, it's quite obvious that Arum is lining up Bradley as a possible future Pacquiao opponent. No secret there.
However, Bradley said he has received no such assurances from Arum -- just the promise that his name will be on the short list if Pacquiao beats Marquez and a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn't materialize.
"My contract with Top Rank doesn't say I'm guaranteed Pacquiao," Bradley said. "But Top Rank is going to promote me. If the Manny Pacquiao fight does come about, that's great. The focus is not just Manny Pacquiao. I have to win on Nov. 12, just like he's gotta win Nov. 12. Then we could have that option. But Bob says he hasn't spoken to Manny's camp about us fighting. And he hasn't had to talk to me about it because he knows I want to fight him.
"If I get Pacquiao, I'd be the happiest man on the planet. I feel I deserve it. I don't care what anybody thinks. I definitely have the credibility and the ability to give Manny Pacquiao a good fight."
Said Arum: "Everybody said we did this because there is a deal for him to fight Pacquiao, and that is just not true. We made it very plain to him that we have never discussed him with Manny or [trainer] Freddie [Roach] and we aren't going to even think about that until after Nov. 12."
Bradley said the past 10 months have been difficult, but he is excited to get back to work and does not regret turning down the fight with Khan, a fight HBO thought it was going to get in July.
"I was supposed to become a star after I beat Alexander, and it didn't happen," Bradley said. "If I beat Amir Khan, it wouldn't have done anything for my career. Would it have put me in position to fight Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather? Not necessarily."
Bradley claims his former promoters were contractually obligated to get him a fight by June 30. Since the Khan fight would have been almost a month later, he said his promotional deal was up. Shaw has said he had an agreement with Dunkin to extend the date because HBO couldn't accommodate the fight before June 30.
"I wanted to fight before June 30," Bradley said. "I come off the fight with Devon and immediately he gets a fight [June 24] and I beat him. And [Shaw and Thompson] wanted me to extend my contract until July 23? I wasn't willing to do it. The money was lucrative with Amir Khan, but I wanted to be promoted and I felt like taking that fight then wouldn't have done anything for my career. We can fight a year or two from now [at welterweight]. There's nothing wrong with that. [Not taking the fight] had nothing to do with the offer. The offer was fine. I wanted to be promoted."
"It's been very frustrating. Last year, I only fought once. I don't understand why. I was coming off one of the biggest wins of my career against [Lamont] Peterson. I was like, 'Let's keep the ball rolling.' They didn't have a fight for me. I was expecting to continue on a roll. But there was never a plan. That's what really bothered me. What is the plan?"
Now, it seems, Bradley has one in place.
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7070226/timothy-bradley-bad-year-turns-better-busier
okay so you are going to act like you didn't compare him to other champs who you say have been doing sparring matches or tune ups. If that is the case who are these top guys that Bradley has on his resume that sets him apart from other champions.
You can't be running around demanding rematches in fights you lost when you are getting out boxed by guys who should be in retirement homes.
