By Francisco Salazar

Timothy Bradley never gives a bad interview, especially after a fight or during a one-on-one with a boxing writer.

Then there are times when Bradley becomes very animated and lets loose on a tirade that makes its way onto YouTube. And you know what? That is good.

Keep them coming, Timothy. It seems when the Palm Springs, Calif. resident is animated and hyped up, good things happen. As in Bradley fights his butt off in the ring and is that much more driven to put an exclamation point on a win.

He is eager to that against Jessie Vargas tonight at the Stubhub Center in Carson, Calif. The bout will headline a Top Rank card and will be televised live on HBO, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/ 6:45 p.m. PT.

There is no questioning Bradley's heart and determination. That was evident the last time he fought at the Stubhub (then known as the Home Depot) Center on March 16, 2013. In that fight, Bradley went through what seemed like life and death for 12 rounds against Ruslan Provodnikov, giving the 3,000 fans in attendance something to cheer loudly for. It was the fight of the year for most boxing outlets.

Maybe he had something to prove in that fight because it was nine months removed from his June 2012 win over Manny Pacquiao, something that had dogged him for months when fight fans and the same news outlets claimed he should have lost that fight.

Bradley would defeat Juan Manuel Marquez later in 2013, suffer the first loss of his career to Pacquiao in April of 2014 and fight to a questionable draw in December against Diego Chaves.

Many, including oddsmakers, believe Bradley will easily defeat the unbeaten Vargas tonight. And maybe they are right. Bradley will be a significant step up in class for Vargas. He is no Anton Novikov or Wale Omotoso. Bradley is a two-time world titleholder and is eager to land another significant payday later this year.

Which did not sit well with Erik Morales, who now trains Vargas. Morales, the former multiple world champion from Tijuana, Mexico, recently said things about Bradley's age and durability.

That did not sit well with Bradley, who went off on Morales in a video that was filmed by and posted on Top Rank's website.

"Jessie Vargas. I'm going to whoop his ass on Saturday. And if Morales has a problem and he wants some, he can get some at the end of the year too because I have two this year. It's my first fight. I'm going to beat his boy, then I'm going to come back and beat his behind. He can come out of retirement. Whatever. We can fight at a catchweight. It don't really matter. (1)54 or whatever. You want to fight at 200, we can fight there and I'm going to whoop your ass next."

That would have been enough, but Bradley was far from done, throwing more ether at Morales.

"If you want to talk, you can say whatever you want to say. Trainers normally stay neutral. (They will say) 'my boy is going to win' or 'he's a good fighter.' Whatever. But when you start talking (expletive), when you start talking garbage and nonsense, that's what gets under my skin. Yeah, I'm fired up. I'm fired up for this. Thank you for firing me up. Because guess what? That Saturday night, it's going to be a good night for Team Bradley. That'd what it's going to be. I'm going to walk out of that ring with another belt strapped around me. Pump me up. Keep me pumped up. I'm fired up."

Bradley and Morales seemed to let bygones be bygones at Thursday's press conference, squashing their beef. But this version of Bradley is what is great about boxing. Why? It creates an obvious buzz and an animated and highly-motivated Bradley is as good as most welterweights and he gives the boxing fans great fights.

Timothy Bradley may or may not be fighting to earn more respect, but he does not have to. Bradley is willing to take on all comers and tie it his all.

Joel Diaz, Bradley's trainer, admitted earlier this week that Bradley likely has about three years left as a top prizefighter. Bradley has been in a lot of wars, with the Provodnikov bout likely being the most brutal.

Bradley has given the boxing world many hard-fought battles and tonight could be no different. If he is this animated to put a hurting tonight and Vargas wants to prove a point that he a legitimate contender, tonight could be a great night of boxing in Carson.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing