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At this time last year, Tim
Bradley was in a rather dark mood. Coming off what should've been a career-changing
victory over Manny Pacquiao in June of 2012, he became a boxing pariah, resolute
and unapologetic in accepting the controversial split decision over the
Filipino icon.
And soon, Bradley found out that
fan is short for “fanatic.”
“I got mail, death threats,
y’ know, phone calls, letters, ‘You didn't win this fight; give the belt back.’
Phone calls, people calling, ‘GIVE THAT BELT BACK!’ and hanging up. I'm like, ‘How
did these people get my number?’ It's crazy some of the things people do,” said
Bradley with a chuckle while surrounded by reporters at Tuesday afternoon's
press conference to announce his April 12th rematch against the “Pac-Man”
at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He can laugh now. It certainly wasn't the case
last year when the usually amiable and friendly Bradley began 2013 as a
disgruntled individual.
He was that guy who won the Powerball
Lotto and was still miserable.
“Yeah, I was at a bad point,
a bad spot and last year, I felt going into the [Ruslan] Provodnikov fight that
I had to do something to rekindle my relationship with the public and not just
with boxing,” he explained of his mindset going into that bout that ended up winning
Fight of the Year honors. “I really just wanted to show how tough I was and how
I was a champion. A lot of people were, ‘You're a fake champion; you're not a
champion.’ A lot of crazy things were being sent to my home. Just bad, it was
horrible, man.”
Bradley admits it wasn't
just one entity in the sport he was angry with. His frustration was directed at
the business of boxing in general.
“I think it was everything
and there was a point after the [Pacquiao] fight I was like, ‘Man, all I did
was get in there and fight and fight my fight and I'm getting all of this. I'm
getting ridiculed, disrespected; I'm being demonized.’ It was a horrible point
and I didn't feel it was right,” said Bradley, whose wife, Monica says these
pent-up frustrations played a part in what might have been a rather foolish
approach against the hard-hitting Russian, “I think if we go back and look at
the March 16th fight against Provodnikov, that can tell you what
emotions went through him for all those months before that fight.”
To say the Provodnikov fight
was grueling is an understatement. Bradley, concussed early on by the
sledgehammer right hands of “The Siberian Rocky,” admits to not remembering
large segments of the fight that took place in front of a rather small crowd at
the Home Depot Center, which had no idea just what type of fight they were about
to witness on that cool spring evening. At the end of the 12th and
final round, Bradley simply ran out of steam and was sent to his knees and
eventually saved by the bell. He didn't so much beat Provodnikov but survived
him.
It's the type of bout that
shortens careers and alters your long-term health. But on the flipside, the
public had a newfound respect for Bradley, who had garnered a reputation as an
effective-yet-boring boxer. So was it worth this price to gain the adulation of
the fan-base, who had heckled him for months prior?
Bradley says, “It was worth
it; I needed a fight like that. I mean, it's ‘Fight of the Year.’ It's going to
be in history. I needed that fight. I needed to fight like that to gain respect
from the fans.” He followed up that brutal game of checkers by winning a chess
match against the Bobby Fischer of counterpunchers, Juan Manuel Marquez in
October. It was a banner year for Bradley. “Absolutely. He emerged from the
shadows and became a real top person in his own right,” said his promoter Bob
Arum of Top Rank Promotions, “so now he's a force to be reckoned with.”
His trainer, Joel Diaz
states, “2013 was a great year. Tim fought two tough fights. His confidence level
went up; he really improved. He matured in the sport in every way and I think it
prepared him for this one.” And Bradley comes into the rematch with Pacquiao a
better fighter the second time around and perhaps with more career momentum. “Oh,
definitely. He's a way better fighter after beating Marquez, after going
through that war with Ruslan. His confidence level is high. He walks tall with
confidence. He's got it all and he's been in the ring with Manny already.”
Last year was so good for
Bradley that he basically secured his financial future - win, lose or draw - on
April 12th. Because he made the most sense for Pacquiao, he had a
certain amount of leverage with Top Rank (with whom his promotional pact was
running out) and with that, he not only got a career-high guarantee of $6
million for this return bout but an extension with lucrative minimums moving
forward. Arum explained, “He understood when we talked about the extension, it
was really an opportunity to become part of the HBO family and I think it's
very valuable for him now and for the future to be part of the HBO family.”
If Bradley should defeat
Pacquiao in more legitimate fashion, he is unequivocally one of the premier
prizefighters on the planet. One who basically cleaned out the junior
welterweight division (in which he unified titles against the likes of Kendall
Holt and Devon Alexander) and has other solid wins versus the Lamont Peterson
and Luis Abregu. Even taking away the first fight with Pacquiao, this is one of
the best résumés in all of boxing. And just now is he getting the hard-earned
respect he yearns for.
“From the fans, from the media,
it's been a lot of respect,” said the 30-year old Bradley, who has a professional
mark of 31-0 (12). “Everybody still has their criticisms and you will have
that, period. I don't expect anyone not to ever criticize me but the respect is
there. The respect is there; they know that I can fight. Everybody knows that I
can fight and that I'm tough to deal with.”
REMATCH
Early on, there does seem to
be a pretty good buzz for this rematch, in fact, much more than Bradley-Pacquiao
I.
“The first time, it was not
considered a competitive fight; it was nine-to-one,” Arum pointed out. “If you
want to know if a fight’s competitive, don't listen to promoters. Don't listen
to anybody but oddsmakers.”
This time around, the fight
is pretty close to a pick ‘em.
TIX
Here's the info for
Bradley-Pacquiao II tickets (which go on sale this afternoon at 1 p.m.,
ET):
There
will be a total ticket limit of 12 per person with a limit of 10 per person at
the $1,000, $800, $600, $400 and $250 price levels and a limit of two (2) per person
at the $150 price level. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call
Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets will also be available for
purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
The friendly neighborhood
(Matt) Swider-Man, who often buys tickets to such events and keeps track of these
things closely, had this series of tweets (@InSwiderBox) after shopping around
for tickets:
“Looks like all lower bowl seats for PAC Bradley will be priced at $1000 when
seats go on sale tomorrow”
“By comparison: Super Bowl
champion Seahawks season tickets (10 GM including preseason) in the lower bowl?
$760”
“Examples like this is why
boxing is where it is...There'd be no “12th man” if you needed 10 grand
to fork over for season tix”
Can anyone argue with that
Twitter logic?
TNR
Here's the latest episode of
“The Next Round” with Gabriel Montoya and Yours Truly:
BIKRAM FLURRIES
Here's an interview our very
own Radio Rahim did with Arum in which he stated that Juan Manuel Marquez would
face the winner of Bradley-Pacquiao II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG8GvYqVxpo...HBO
will premiere “Road to Chavez Jr./Vera II” on Monday, February 17th at
10:15 p.m., ET/PT. My reaction is, “They're doing a ‘Road to Chavez Jr./Vera II’”?!...Vanes
Martirosyan will face Luciano Cuello on March 21st at the Morongo
Casino on ESPN2...It looks more and more like James Kirkland will not face
Gennady Golovkin on April 26th at the Theater at Madison Square Garden
but be in the semi-main that night on HBO...If Tracy McGrady is going to try
baseball, I guess you can expect him to be on the 15-day DL an awful lot...Uh,
yeah, Sochi sounds like a lot of fun for journalists covering it: http://deadspin.com/staying-in-sochi-is-a-hilarious-adventure-1515722114…
I can be reached
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