Did provo ruin bradley?

[jvsnypes]

Bradley is my favorite fighter, hands down. But I honestly question if his heart is into it anymore. That 1st Pacquiao fight took a lot out of him mentally and emotionally. I think he lost his identity in the ring. He's out to please the fans now and goes away from the strategy and away from the advantages that makes him effective in the ring. He engages in toe to toe exchanges way more than he needs to. So with a lack of punching power, it does appear at times that he's struggling against mediocre opponents. I honestly think if he gets back to simply boxing and using his skill and speed, he will return to the level we are used to seeing him at. Resigning with Top Rank wasn't a wise move on his part either. After fighting greats like Pacquiao and Marquez, how can he honestly get motivated to fight Provodnikov and Chaves??? The best welterweights and jr welterweights are with Al Haymon. Those are the guys that would definitely keep him motivated and build a great legacy for him. With Top Rank, he is simply fighting for a pay day at this point.

[Doctor_Tenma]

Bradley loses his head, he ain't ruined. I do think he needs time off, he hasn't looked himself.

[thebigkabosh]

It's clear the fight with the russian took some of the wind out of his sails. According to him he had a hard time talking for 2 months after that fight.

[The Ninth Layer]

Why do people discredit fighters for not being blessed with natural talent such as amazing speed and power?

If anything, I credit a fighter more for making up for that in other areas like will, determination, versatility.

People like to have tangible things to point at. Power and speed are the two most obvious attributes of a boxer (how fast they throw punches and how much damage those punches do) and so people tend to look at those factors above other things such as footwork or less tangible skills like versatility or adaptability.

I think Bradley is an A-level fighter and one of the few complete guys in the sport. He may not ever have the physical gifts to let him dominate his opponents but he's got enough wrinkles in his game to where you could never count him out of a fight.

[KillerJones]

So, who else besides Floyd and Pac have been able to outbox JMM again? Bradley had the wrong game plan against Pac in the rematch because he knew he had no shot to win a decision due to the controversy in the first bout, not to mention he tore a calf muscle and still managed to finish the fight.

In this last bout, the opponent headbutted him and he still won a minimum of 7 rounds (I thought he won 8). Arum paid the judges off (Lederman in particular) to keep Chaves marketable for future fights because his welterweight boxing stable is thin.

How many fighters has JMM fought that could easily outbox him?

Pure slick boxers will always school JMM. The dude very carefully chooses opponents. Just as Bradley and Floyd embarrassed him many other fighters also would.

JMM is good against a certain fighter. If Pac only wanted to outbox him in an uneventful fight, Pac could do the same. But he's always looking for that KO.

There have been many fights JMM has declined because he knew he would lose. He took the Bradley fight because Timmy tends to come in ducking a lot and JMM has a great uppercut. But Bradley has enough athletic skills that if he is not trying to KO him, easy win.

[The Ninth Layer]

How many fighters has JMM fought that could easily outbox him?

Pure slick boxers will always school JMM. The dude very carefully chooses opponents. Just as Bradley and Floyd embarrassed him many other fighters also would.

JMM is good against a certain fighter. If Pac only wanted to outbox him in an uneventful fight, Pac could do the same. But he's always looking for that KO.

There have been many fights JMM has declined because he knew he would lose. He took the Bradley fight because Timmy tends to come in ducking a lot and JMM has a great uppercut. But Bradley has enough athletic skills that if he is not trying to KO him, easy win.

I don't think there are many fighters who could easily outbox Marquez. The dude's timing is still as sharp as ever. There's definitely nobody at welterweight besides Floyd that I would pick over him with any confidence.

[HanzGruber]

He easily beat Juan. Juan easily beat alvarafo so no

[ironmike2012]

No, but he will never be the same after a fight like that.
Bradley won the last fight, but it is hard to look good against Chaves because he fouls a lot.
He doesn't want a rematch, as that could end his career even if he "wins".
Provodnikov catches a lot of slack for being slow and no defense, he is still fun to watch.

[VatoMulatto]

He looked like crap against Diego Gabriel Chaves but still did enough to win. That was not a draw.....Bradley was robbed.

[joseph5620]

It seems that after the provodnikov fight bradley has declined slightly. The marquez fight is debatable since marquez was in his late 30s, which is normally the age fighters retire. Against pac bradley gassed very quickly and he didn't look impressive against chaves. He also seems to have gained more weight between fights than he used to although that could be due to aging. He doesn't seem to have the goods that he used to. The only thing I can think of is the provo fight which took him months to recover from. And now his broken cheekbone will give him trouble. He's picked up like an injury nearly every fight in the past 3 years. He's starting to look like rosado and that's worrying

Not at all. If he did it would have shown against Marquez.