By Keith Idec
Timothy Bradley and his wife, Monica, refer to his “victory” over Manny Pacquiao as “The Black Cloud.”
Bradley earned a guaranteed $5 million purse, plus a portion of the pay-per-view revenue, for his June 2012 fight against Pacquiao. And at least officially, Bradley won their 12-round welterweight title bout by split decision.
The aftermath of his highly controversial win was so emotionally and mentally taxing, though, that Bradley really didn’t enjoy any of the rewards that supposedly accompanied it. The venom spewed toward him and family by Pacquiao’s supporters and other dissatisfied fans and media still bothers Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs, 1 NC).
The extremely motivated Palm Springs, Calif., native intends to marginalize the damage done by their first fight on Saturday night, when he’ll encounter Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KOs) again in another HBO Pay-Per-View main event at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT; $69.99 in HD). Despite that he technically lost their first fight and has since been knocked unconscious by Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao is roughly a 2-1 favorite over Bradley.
“The Black Cloud is still there,” Bradley, 30, said. “It’s one of those things where you’re sitting at home and you start thinking about your life and you start thinking about all these great things that go on in your life, your family and how successful you’ve been. But then, in the back of your mind, I’m thinking, ‘Dang, I win this fight and I get no credit. In the people’s eyes, I get no credit. I can’t continue to go on with my career and my life without revisiting this particular fight.’ Win or lose [Saturday night], I can go back and I can rest at night. It’s over. That cloud is gone. And it should never be brought up again. After April 12, it should never be brought up again.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
