Tag Archives: Tim Bradley

Posted on 04/12/2022

By: Hans Themistode

From the moment George Kambosos Jr. defeated Teofimo Lopez and subsequently wrapped his IBF, WBA, WBO, and WBC Franchise lightweight titles around his waist, Devin Haney placed a bullseye on the Australian’s back.

Though Kambosos Jr. originally wanted to defend his 135-pound throne against Vasiliy Lomachenko, with the Ukrainian opting to instead stay in his native land and help defend against Russia’s ongoing invasion, Kambosos Jr. turned his attention toward Haney.

With Lomachenko temporarily out of the picture, Haney has officially signed his name on the dotted line to face Kambosos Jr. on June 5th, in Melbourne Australia. While Haney has opened up as a slight favorite, many have expressed concern. According to the terms of their possible two-fight deal, should Haney defeat Kambosos Jr. come June 5th, he’ll be mandated to face Kambosos Jr. immediately after. Just like their first bout, their second contest would take place in Australia as well.

Despite the apprehension, Tim Bradley is hoping that Haney won’t be rattled by fighting on foreign territory. Having won the first world title of his career against Junior Witter in 2008 in Witter’s backyard in the United Kingdom, Bradley is of the belief that as long as Haney remains focused on the task at hand, he’ll get the job done.

“He can’t worry about that,” said Bradley to a group of reporters. “At the end of the day, you got to go in there and fight your fight. I think that Haney has enough skills and ability to beat a fighter like Kambosos.”

Haney, the current WBC lightweight belt holder, had long been hoping to face one of the division’s best. In 2021, Haney completed the most impressive year of his young career. In May, the 23-year-old dominated former multiple weight world champion, Jorge Linares. Roughly seven months later, Haney would go on to hand Joseph Diaz a fairly one-sided unanimous decision defeat.

While Bradley believes that Kambosos Jr. is a terrific fighter in his own right, he’s also of the belief that as long as Haney doesn’t plant his feet and fight fire with fire, he should have little to no issue leaving Australia with every world title draped safely over his shoulders.

“I just think that Haney gotta box. If he just boxes for 12 rounds, he should be able to whitewash him. Haney has better feet, he’s longer, has a longer jab. It’s when he sits still, that’s the problem that I have. When he goes into that Philly shell, he gets hit with right hands. I worry about that, especially against Kambosos.”

Posted on 04/11/2022

By: Hans Themistode

Despite turning 40-years-old just a few days ago, and regardless of being out of the ring for nearly two years, Gennadiy Golovkin wiped off the ring rust this past weekend, to become a unified middleweight champion.

The near 5 to 1 favorite stormed into the backyard of Ryota Murata at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, to register a ninth-round stoppage victory on the night. While the end result was exactly what Golovkin was envisioning, Murata gave him all he could handle.

In the early goings of their middleweight unification bout, Murata found success as he pumped out a consistent jab that repeatedly snapped the head back of Golovkin. Once Murata found his range, he attacked the midsection of his man. Although Murata seemed to be in control, Golovkin quelled his momentum in the second half.

A visibly tired Murata languished against the ropes as the championship rounds neared. In the ninth, with Murata seemingly on fumes, Golovkin violently ended the night with a short right hook that forced Murata’s corner to throw in the towel.

The win for the newly crowned unified champion not only allowed him to add another world title to his collection but he likely stamped a third meeting against Canelo Alvarez this coming September. First things first, however, Alvarez must get past WBA light heavyweight titlist, Dmitry Bivol.

With most of the boxing world eager to see what Golovkin had left in his 40-year-old body, Tim Bradley was left thoroughly unimpressed by his performance. Should Alvarez and Golovkin officially meet for a third and presumably final time, Bradley appeared apathetic about how their contest would officially play out.

“He’s gonna mop up Golovkin,” said Bradley to a group of reporters. “He looked terrible in the beginning and then he closed strong in the end. He showed that he has great condition, still has power. I saw some good lateral movement from him.”

That aforementioned power, of course, has always come to Golovkin’s rescue. Nevertheless, as Golovkin has aged, his overall skills seem to be eroding. While Bradley believes that Golovkin would still be a handful to a long list of fighters, he maintains that a third showdown against Alvarez will end badly.

“I see him stopping him bro. And if he doesn’t stop him he’s gonna hurt him. He’s gonna hurt him really badly. Canelo, I just believe is on another level from Golovkin.”

Posted on 03/20/2022

By: Hans Themistode

Tim Bradley anxiously awaited Edgar Berlanga’s trip to the ring. The former two-division world titlist was none too pleased with Berlanga’s previous performance. Just five months ago, Berlanga failed to impress as he took on fringe contender Marcelo Esteban Coceres.

In addition to Berlanga being forced to go the distance for only the second time in his career, the hard-hitting super middleweight prospect was sent crashing down to the canvas before eking out a close unanimous decision.

Regardless of his lackluster efforts, Bradley was left even more disappointed by Berlanga’s recent showing. Late last night, in front of a jam-packed crowd in Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, Berlanga scraped by veteran journeymen, Steve Rolls.

As Berlanga sauntered his way through his hometown crowd, he was accompanied by hip hop star Fat Joe, as notable musical artists such as Fabulous, Maino, Remy Ma, Papoose, Dave East, and Jim Jones rooted him on from the sidelines.

Despite the famed support, Berlanga simply couldn’t get his offense going as Rolls continually danced around the ring. At one point, Berlanga threw up his hands in frustration in an attempt to force Rolls to stand in the middle of the ring and bang with him.

When Rolls did oblige Berlanga and fought fire with fire, the 37-year-old landed the more eye-catching shots. While Berlanga may have ultimately eked out a close decision, taking into account the considerable amount public exposure that Berlanga is receiving, Bradley believes the 24-year-old needs to justify those lofty expectations.

“Edgar got a lot of hype and a lot buzz around him,” said Bradley to BoxingInsider.com. “Main event, you the main event. All the Puerto Rican fans came out to see him perform. He didn’t get the knockout but he didn’t land anything really significant. You gotta be way better than that.”

Throughout much of Berlanga’s early career, the highly touted super middleweight prospect has tabbed himself as a future boxing superstar. Furthermore, the New York native views as a showdown against boxing’s premier star at the moment, Canelo Alvarez, as inevitable.

Although Berlanga has demonstrated that he can talk the talk, Bradley urges him to put down the microphone and prove his worth in the ring.

“You gotta convince the fans that you are going to be the next. You can’t just talk about it, you gotta be about it.”

Posted on 01/03/2022

By: Hans Themistode

The moment Tim Bradley got word, he immediately began holding his sides as tears rolled down his cheeks from laughing. With Keith Thurman set to end his near three-year layoff on February 5th, against Mario Barrios, the former unified welterweight titlist has stated on numerous occasions that he intends to regain championship glory.

Yet, even with Thurman as confident as ever in his ability to challenge for the division’s crown, former two-time welterweight champion Tim Bradley simply isn’t buying it.

“Keith, what you doing Keith?” Asked Bradley during an interview with BoxingInsider.com. “Mercenary, mercenary. Keith is all about that bread, that’s it. Keith is one foot in, one foot out.”

At one point, Thurman was considered by most as the welterweight division’s leading man. In 2015, the now 33-year-old defended his 147-pound title in back-to-back appearances against former champions Robert Guerrero and Luis Collazo. Immediately following those victories, Thurman would pick up consecutive wins over Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia, the latter resulting in a unified title reign.

Although Thurman appeared to be at his peak, his body slowly began breaking down. Shortly after his victory over Garcia, Thurman was ushered into the operating room to take care of an injured elbow and hand. The Florida native was then forced to sit on the sidelines for almost two years.

Upon his return, Thurman eked out a majority decision win over fringe contender Josesito Lopez before losing a split decision against Manny Pacquiao in 2019. Much like the ongoing pattern in his career, Thurman would once again undergo surgery following his bout with Pacquiao, resulting in a layoff of well over two and a half years.

In Barrios, Thurman faces a former 140-pound titlist who will attempt to make a splash in his stop at 147 pounds. In his final contest as a super lightweight, Barrios suffered the first defeat of his career against Gervonta Davis.

Although Thurman believes a victory over Barrios will serve as a springboard to getting the former belt holder bigger fights in the division, Bradley suspects that Thurman is simply continuing his career for the sizable paychecks. Nothing more and nothing less.

“He’s similar to Mikey Garcia, he looking for the best fight. A fight he knows he can possibly win and get the most money from so Barrios is that guy.”

Posted on 11/24/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Well before Terence Crawford received his credit as being one of the best fighters in the world, Tim Bradley was singing his praises.

As a two-division world champion, Bradley constantly tells the story of sharing the ring with Crawford during a sparring session several years ago. Although Crawford hadn’t yet won a world title at the time, Bradley was immediately taken aback by his skills in the ring.

Fast forward several years later, and Bradley is even more impressed with Crawford.

For as great as Crawford has been, current unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. is viewed as his biggest challenge by far. With the Dallas native sporting a strong overall resume and two of the four major titles at 147 pounds, the boxing world is patiently waiting until they share the ring with one another.

If and when they do square off, most would consider their showdown a 50/50 fight. However, in the mind of Bradley, he believes Crawford will leave Spence Jr. on the seat of his pants before the sound of the final bell.

“I been said Spence gets knocked out,” said Bradley during an interview with Fight Hub TV. “Crawford does too many things. He’s going to find a way to knockout Spence. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Bradley’s overwhelming belief in the skills and power of Crawford was only reinforced this past weekend. At the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Crawford took on his toughest opponent to date in former two-time welterweight champion Shawn Porter.

Early on, Crawford couldn’t time the awkward rhythm of Porter. However, after fighting on fairly even terms through the first half of their contest, Crawford took over down the stretch. In the tenth, the Omaha, Nebraska, native registered the first knockdown of the night thanks to a left uppercut. With Porter seemingly dazed, Crawford went in the finish, successfully doing so just moments later.

Throughout the career of Porter, the former titlist has long been lauded for his ability to give every top 147 pounder a difficult time in the ring. Although Bradley tips his cap to Porter for giving Crawford several issues early on, he points to Crawford’s adjustments which led to the first stoppage defeat in Porter’s career.

“Spence, [Keith] Thurman, they all struggled with Porter. Crawford, he did struggle a bit, the kid had a great game plan, has a ton of experience, and used it very well but for the most part, Crawford was able to neutralize a lot of the stuff that he did. It just shows you how great Crawford is.”

Posted on 10/01/2021

By: Hans Themistode

A Canelo Alvarez win has essentially become a formality in the eyes of Timothy Bradley. The former two-division champion turned ESPN commentator will certainly tune in on November 6th, when Alvarez takes on IBF super middleweight champion, Caleb Plant.

Although Bradley respects the 29-year-old wholeheartedly, he simply doesn’t see how Plant makes it to the final bell.

“He’s going to sleep,” said Bradley to FightHype.com. “He makes too many mistakes.”

The sentiments shared by Bradley have been a constant theme the moment Alvarez vs. Plant was announced. While the Nashville, Tennessee native has defended his title against the likes of Mike Lee, Vincent Feigenbutz, and Caleb Truax, he’s yet to fight anyone even remotely close to the caliber of Alvarez.

As for the Mexican star, he’s proven that his knockout power goes well beyond the realm of just the 168-pound landscape. With stoppage victories against opponents as high as the light heavyweight division, Alvarez has shown an ability to stop much larger men. Now, with three of the four major world titles at 168 pounds wrapped around his waist, and with championship reigns across multiple weight classes throughout the course of his career, Alvarez is considered by most to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

As Bradley sits back and thinks to himself, he struggles with seeing how Plant will have his hand raised in victory. To better explain how slim Plant’s chances are come November 6th, Bradley ventured into another sport entirely to expound on his opinion.

“He’s like the street baller with all the skills in the world,” explained Bradley. “But he ain’t gonna make it to the league. He got it all, he got all the skills. He does but there’s holes that I see that he can’t do against Canelo.”

In addition to the physical attributes Bradley believes Plant is lacking, the former two-division titlist is fully convinced that when it comes to what’s between the ears, he comes up short in that department as well.

“Canelo is too smart. He don’t have the IQ to beat Canelo. It takes a guy with IQ to beat Canelo. Canelo can do it all too. He can fight you on the inside, he can fight you on the outside, he can be very defensive and counterpunch you. If you don’t have the IQ to be able to deal with that and negate all of that, you’re not going to beat him.”

Posted on 09/05/2021

By: Hans Themistode

When Terence Crawford was ordered to defend his WBO welterweight title against former two-time titlist Shawn Porter, Tim Bradley couldn’t stop himself from grinning. The former two-division belt holder finds a matchup between the pair intriguing and is interested in seeing how things shake out.

Originally, the two sides attempted to hammer out a deal behind the scenes. But with Top Rank, Crawford’s representatives, and Premier Boxing Champions, the representatives of Porter, unable to finalize an agreement, a public purse bid was set to take place on September 2nd.

After continuing to work diligently, both sides requested an extension as a deal draws closer. They will now have until September 14th, to reach an agreement or a purse bid will in fact take place.

Regardless of the contractual side of things, Bradley isn’t interested in how much either fighter will make or where the fight will take place. The former 140 and 147-pound champion simply wants to see the two in the ring. For a fight of this magnitude, a pay-per-view setting is the likely destination. Yet, in Bradley’s opinion, forcing customers to pay for a showdown between two fighters who aren’t the most ballyhooed, isn’t the best idea.

“You have two guys who aren’t relatively known,” said Bradley.

For Porter, the 33-year-old former belt holder has competed in one PPV thus far and managed to reel in terrific numbers. In September of 2019, Porter went toe to toe with unified 147-pound champion, Errol Spence Jr. While Porter would go on to lose, they reportedly raked in over 300,00 PPV buys. Since the loss, Porter has bounced back, outpointing fringe contender Sebastian Formella in August of 2020.

As for Crawford, although he usually finds his name near the top of every pound-for-pound list, his PPV numbers haven’t impressed. In his first appearance on that platform, in July of 2016, Crawford easily outpointed Viktor Postol to unify titles in the super lightweight division. His performance may have been nearly flawless on the night, but his PPV numbers checked in at reportedly 50,000 buys.

Crawford’s second PPV, this time against Amir Khan in April of 2019, performed better as reportedly 150,000 customers purchased the event to witness Crawford score the sixth round stoppage.

While Crawford’s PPV numbers increased during his second go round and despite Porter generating over 300,000 for his fight against Spence Jr., Bradley believes they just aren’t recognizable figures in the regular world.

To prove his theory correct, Bradley revealed that he conducted an experiment.

“I walked around and asked 20 random people who don’t know anything about boxing. Do you know Terrence ‘Bud’ Crawford? They said no. Have you ever heard of Shawn Porter? No. All 20 of them said they never heard of them. So why is this fight on pay-per-view?”

Posted on 04/06/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Tim Bradley’s eyes grow wide whenever he hears about the possibility of Terence Crawford taking on Manny Pacquiao. The two have been rumored to be locked in negotiations for a possible June 5th showdown that would take place in Dubai.

In the mind of most boxing pundits, Crawford has the clear edge. The current WBO 147 pound belt holder is the consensus number one boxer in the world and is presumably smack dab in the middle of his prime. Pacquiao, on the other hand, is 42-years-old and hasn’t stepped into the ring since July of 2019 against Keith Thurman. In front of a mostly pro-Pacquiao crowd, the former eight-division world champion floored Thurman in the first round before squeaking a close but clear win.

Despite his success even at his advanced age, names such as promoter Bob Arum believe Crawford would not only win their contest decisively but also that he would ultimately knock Pacquiao out.

Having spent time in the ring with both men, Bradley isn’t ready to go that far.

“That’s a mean name,” said Bradley during a recent group interview on ESPN. “I been in the ring over 36 rounds with that guy (Pacquiao) and I been over a hundred rounds with Terence Crawford. This was earlier in Terence’s career and I understand he’s gotten a lot better from when I sparred him but those tendencies are still the same.”

Long before Crawford became the pound-for-pound star he is today, Bradley raved about the skills of the Nebraska native after several sparring sessions. In fact, Bradley has gone on record stating that Crawford would even defeat a prime Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Still, even with Bradley constantly singing his praises, he can spot several flaws in the game of Crawford and he knows good and well that Pacquiao would exploit them in the blink of an eye.

“Manny Pacquiao loves when guys pull back and that’s a problem. We also know that Terence Crawford gets hit early and he gets hit often early. Manny Pacquiao is a quick starter as well and he still has that blazing left hand that possesses a massive amount of punching power. Manny Pacquiao is a dangerous fight. I would slightly favor Terence Crawford but its a dangerous fight.”

Posted on 12/28/2020

By: Hans Themistode

Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford have been dancing around each other for years now. Most of the world has the pair ranked at the very top of the welterweight division. Deciding who is the better all-around fighter is a question that has yet to be answered, and by all accounts, it doesn’t seem as though we’ll find out anytime soon.

Recently, Spence Jr. has made expressed a desire to jump up two or three weight classes to take on four-division titlist Canelo Alvarez.

While many have viewed Spence Jr.’s ambitions as brazen, former two-division champion Tim Bradley views his desire to do so as money-hungry.

“Why would go up and face Canelo but you won’t face Terence Crawford in the same weight class as you?” Said Bradley during a recent discussion with Andre Ward, Mark Kriegel and Joe Tessitore. “That’s a money thing for him.”

In the case of Alvarez, the Mexican superstar is viewed by many as the number one fighter in the world. He’s also considered the sport’s number one attraction, routinely raking in tens of millions of dollars for each appearance in the ring.

In his most recent bout which took place last week against former WBA/Ring magazine super-middleweight champion Callum Smith, Alvarez reportedly pulled in north of 20 million for his one-sided victory. In September of 2018, Alvarez signed a 10 fight, 350 million dollar deal with DAZN. Although their contract has since been terminated, Alvarez continues to see lucrative offers, including a three-fight deal worth $75 million from Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) earlier this year.

With a career-high payday likely if he were to secure a showdown with Alvarez, although Spence Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) is only 30 years of age, Bradley believes that the Dallas product simply wants to load up his duffle bag with cash and exit stage left.

“I think that Spence is at a point now and correct me if I’m wrong but I think he just wants to get the money and leave the game.”

For Bradley, a matchup between Spence Jr. and Crawford is one that he fantasizes about but doesn’t expect to happen. One constant issue that has prevented the two from fighting one another is Spence Jr.’s association with PBC and Crawford’s alignment with Top Rank. With that said, Crawford is currently under contract with Top Rank for only one more year. A possible landing spot for Crawford once his contract does expire is PBC.

Still, even if Crawford were to sign on the dotted line with the same promotional outfit as Spence Jr., Bradley still won’t get his hopes up.

“He has no intentions of fighting Terence Crawford. Even if Terence Crawford was to jump ship and go over there to PBC, I still don’t see the fight happening.”

Posted on 11/23/2020

By: Hans Themistode

A Danny Garcia vs Errol Spence Jr. matchup is one that the boxing public struggles to predict. Those struggles only increased following Spence Jr.’s car wreck in October of 2019.

Garcia, a former two-division world titlist is set to face unified champion Spence Jr. in just a few more weeks on December 5th. Question marks surrounding Spence Jr.’s health and ability to take a punch have pushed many to view his contest with Garcia as a 50/50 matchup. But the growing notion that Garcia has a legitimate chance to pull off the upset has become laughable to former multiple division champion Timothy Bradley.

“Garcia to me is tailor-made for him,” said Bradley to Fight Hype during a recent interview. “Tailor-made.”

Garcia, 32, has always been viewed as the full package. The Philadelphia native has been praised for his punching power and timing over the years but more than anything, his “no look,” left hook has received more than its fair share of credit. The unconventional punch has left former great fighters such as Erik Morales and Amir Khan unconscious in the blink of an eye.

Although it’s a shot that carries a lot of power, to Bradley, you must be out of your mind if you believe he’ll be able to land it against Spence Jr.

“You think Spence is gonna run into that?” Said Bradley as he imitated Garcia’s left hook by closing his eyes, tucking his head down and throwing violently. “He got timing but he’s not landing that against Errol Spence. He’s too smooth for that.”

For Bradley, a current ESPN boxing analyst after hanging up the gloves in 2016, he’s watched Garcia for most of his career, including his 2014 matchup against Mauricio Herrera. In that contest, Garcia was heavily favored but barely scraped by with a majority decision win. On the night, the Philadelphia native found it difficult getting past the strong jab of Herrera. To Bradley, if Garcia couldn’t formulate a game plan to deal with the fringe contender, then in no way, shape or form will he be able to deal with the sort of heat that will be coming his way from Spence Jr.

“Garcia is going to have a hard time getting past the jab. He eats jabs. Remember Mauricio Herrera? He landed the jab on him and contained. Spence is gonna control him all night, back him and beat him on the inside.”

Posted on 11/15/2020

By: Hans Themistode

WBO welterweight belt holder Terence Crawford and unified champion Errol Spence Jr. are seemingly joined at the hip. Simply put, it’s difficult to mention one without the other.

With Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) recently decapitating former IBF champion Kell Brook this past weekend, the chatter and demand for the pair to face each other began to echo through the empty MGM Grand Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both Crawford and his promoter Bob Arum, have expressed optimism over the years that their contest will in fact take place. Yet for former multiple division champion and now ESPN boxing analyst Timothy Bradley, he simply rolls his eyes whenever anyone gets excited about their possible matchup taking place.

“It’s not going to happen,” said Bradley to FightHype following Crawford’s fourth round victory over Brook.

Issues between Arum and his Top Rank Promotional company and Premier Boxing Champions, the banner in which Spence Jr. fights under, has been an impediment to a possible deal coming to fruition. While Bradley salivates over a possible matchup between them down the line, the former champion can’t help but notice a glaring similarity between Spence Jr. vs Crawford and another high profile fight who many believe took far too long to take place.

“They doing the same thing that they did with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.”

At one point in the mid to late 2000s, both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao not only campaigned in the same weight class, but they were also universally recognized as the best pound for pound fighters in the world. A matchup between them split the opinions of boxing fans as they had difficulty choosing sides. The need to see them face off in the ring became an obvious one, but due to various reasons, the two future first ballot hall of famers spent countless years without coming to terms on a bout agreement. It wasn’t until 2015 where both men were able to hammer out a deal that placated each side.

Their contest was hyped as the fight of the decade, yet, after 12 rounds, most of the public found their matchup to be uneventful and past its expiration date.

For Bradley, the 37-year-old believes that a showdown with Spence Jr. and Crawford is going down that same road. But unlike the numerous contract issues that plagued a Mayweather vs Pacquiao contest for years, Bradley simply views Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) as having too many options on his plate, including his December 5th showdown with Danny Garcia.

“If Spence beats Garcia then he would supposedly fight Porter next. Then who’s next over there? He could fight Thurman and that’s another two years, year and a half from now. And then possibly Pacquiao after that if Pacquiao’s still in the game. And then, Terence Crawford when it’s three years, two and a half years from now.”

The clock between a matchup with the undefeated pound for pound stalwarts is counting down at an expedited pace. But as long as Crawford continues to do business with Bob Arum and Spence Jr. with Premier Boxing Champions, Bradley is left without answers in terms of how a deal is made.

With that being said, Crawford’s promotional contract with Top Rank expires in late 2021 which could open the door for the Nebraska native to jump ship. Still, even if that were to happen, Bradley remains pessimistic.

“If Terence was to somehow end up over there, I still don’t see the fight happening but even if it happens, it’s going to be too long. We want to see it in their primes.”

Although Bradley doesn’t see a pathway to their contest taking place in the near future, the recently retired fighter allowed himself to think positively for a moment. The 37-year-old would love to be wrong and hopes that their contest does take place sooner rather than later. If he is indeed erroneous in his assumptions, Bradley doesn’t hesitate when picking a winner.

“Terence would win that fight. Nobody makes better adjustments than Terence Crawford. They see it, I’m not saying that Spence is scared but I’m just saying that they see it.”