Timothy Bradley Jr, ranked in the top five of the world’s best welterweights, craves respect. Despite defeating two future Hall of Famers Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao, and earning a 31-1-1 record, the boxer known as the Desert Storm doesn’t have much of a following.
Bradley – a four-time world champion – has a sharp mind, which has resulted in the fighter becoming a part-time television analyst. But he can also become weirdly unhinged when he feels like he is not receiving the appreciation supposedly due him.
Once again, he went rogue this week. He started railing against Jessie Vargas (26-0; 9 KOs), his foe for Saturday’s 147lbs WBO title showdown at the StubHub Center in Carson, California (HBO, 9.45pm ET). Vargas is a promising young fighter but a relative unknown. Vargas, 5ft 11in, is a lanky man who has mostly fought at 140lbs and will have to raise his game considerably to compete against the veteran. In the fight’s buildup, there has been more interest in Vargas’ novice trainer, the retired Mexican boxing great Erik Morales, than Vargas. Vargas has even been acting as Morales’ translator.
“Jessie Vargas? I’m going to whup his ass on Saturday,” said Bradley. “And if Morales got a problem and he wants some, he can get some at the end of the year too. I’m going to beat his boy. Then I can come back and I’ll beat his [Morales’s] behind. He can come out of retirement. We can fight at a catchweight – 154lbs, 200lbs– and I’m going to whup your ass next! I’m fired up for this! Saturday night is going to be a good night. I’m going to walk out of the ring with another belt strapped around me.”
“We laughed about it,” said Vargas, who believes Bradley’s tirade shows a serious lack of self-confidence. “He’s obviously, very, very intimidated.”
This is the wonderfully weird world of boxing, so Bradley was, at least partly, trying to generate interest in Saturday’s match, which is for the vacant WBO welterweight belt. But his primary objective might be to create momentum for future fights: he wants to score a bigger named opponent, resulting in a bigger payday. The premium networks and promoters are in the process of scheduling their fall fights, and it could be an autumn with some compelling matchups. The often-overlooked Bradley, who lacks knockout power, wants to be included, too.
In the last decade, welter weights have created many of the sport’s megafights with charismatic and skilled boxers Pacquiao, Marquez, Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley, and Miguel Cotto. It now has some burgeoning contenders in Kell Brook and Keith Thurman, but the division is greying.
Middleweights are now winning the popularity contest.
Bradley, 31, has talked about moving to the middleweight division by calling out KO specialist Gennady Golovkin, Mexican heartthrob Canelo Alvarez, and a resurgent Cotto, who is now fighting in the middle weight classes. These middleweight fighters are expected to generate the most attention this fall. Alvarez and Cotto are currently in negotiations for a fall megafight, and the hope is that the winner will fight Golovkin.
To gain more power in his 5ft 6in body, Bradley has abandoned his vegan diet for animal proteins. He has been trying to gain knockout power by enduring workouts in which he is swinging a sledgehammer at a tractor tire, and focusing on other old school workouts that are in vogue.
Before getting another brand-named opponent, Bradley will have to get past Vargas who also lacks KO credentials. Both fighters are talking about a toe-to-toe war, which might not favor Bradley’s style. Bradley has had tremendous success in the ring as a technical boxer with an awkward style, but he must become a different type fighter to win people’s hearts.
Despite vanquishing world champions, Bradley is best known for his 2013 fight against Ruslan Provodnikov. The fight came after his controversial win over Manny Pacquiao. Most observers believed his win over the Filipino was a travesty of poor judging, and Bradley came into the Provodnikov fight craving public redemption. (He had won the fight but the world considered Pacquiao the real winner.)
Instead of relying on his technical efficiency and ability to create punching angles, he entered a slugfest with the Russian. He was lucky to survive. Bradley was hurt badly in the first round (a knock down was ruled a slip) and beat the count in the 12th round. Not wanting to see him take so much punishment, his wife left the arena in tears. He won a unanimous decision and 2013 Fight of the Year honors. The crowd cheered him as he has never been cheered.
And now he is entering the ring on Saturday after a controversial split decision draw against Diego Gabriel Chaves. That tepid result, against a weaker opponent, didn’t help the Desert Storm’s status as a pound-for-pound fighter.
Is it déjà vu? Just like before the Bradley-Provodnikov Fight of the Year, Bradley feels disrespected and persecuted. He wants redemption. He wants to regain his status as a pound-for-pound man, and he wants a lucrative fight in the fall. These elements usually add up to an aggressive, reckless, and desperate Bradley.
Boxing fans appreciate good technique and all, but in the end they want a fight. As they say, no (blood and) guts, no glory.
