Timothy Bradley: In Search Of a Belt and Respect
By Thomas Gerbasi
Photo © Craig Bennett/FightWireImages.com
Joel Diaz knows a little something about being the odd man out while fighting in hostile territory.
He’s been there when his brother Antonio traveled to Connecticut to fight Micky Ward and New York to take on Shane Mosley. He saw his other brother Julio go to the Big Apple to face Justo Sencion and to Florida to fight Ricky Quiles, and he’s even been in the position of challenger on foreign turf himself when he fought Philip Holiday for the IBF lightweight crown in 1996.
So when Diaz, Timothy Bradley’s head trainer, talks about the things his fighter will likely face in England this week when he challenges for Junior Witter’s WBC junior welterweight crown, the young man dubbed ‘Desert Storm’ listens.
“He told me that when I get over here I’m not gonna get any respect, that I’m not gonna get any love from the fans, that people are gonna say things to try to get under my skin, and that everything’s gonna go wrong,” recalled Bradley of his trainer’s advice. “But he said all you do is just laugh. You let it go and just brush it off. You’re the challenger. You’re not anything yet until you beat the champion.”
It’s good advice, counsel that was almost prophetic when Bradley and his team arrived in the UK on Sunday and were notified that their hotel room wasn’t ready yet and wouldn’t be for a few hours, but that’s been the extent of the drama thus far.
“Everybody has been nice and made sure we were comfortable,” said Bradley, who has thankfully engaged in a trash-talk free lead-up to the fight with the talented and underrated Witter (36-1-2, 21 KOs), for whom this Showtime-televised bout may be even more important in terms of making a splash in the all-important US market that has shunned him since a losing effort against Zab Judah in 2000.
Since that bout, which the then 15-0-2 Witter lost via decision, the Bradford native has gone on a 21 fight winning streak that includes wins over Lovemore N’dou, DeMarcus Corley, and most recently, Vivian Harris. Bradley is well aware of the champion’s post-Judah career, a run of success which the Californian believes was inspired by his career low point.
“He (Witter) is in prime-time shape, he’s a world champion and after the Zab Judah fight, he learned a lot,” said Bradley, a self-professed student of the game. “He went back, got hungry and knew he could hang with the best out there. I think the Judah fight gave him confidence because he was able to hang with Zab in his prime and not get knocked out. I think he’s at the peak of his career right now, he’s a great champion, and I know that he’s definitely gonna try to come in and dominate me.”
For some that would be a daunting proposition, especially since the post-Judah version of Witter has shown impressive power to the tune of 17 knockouts in his last 21 wins. But the 24-year old Bradley, who only has 21 wins total (11 KOs) in an almost four year career fought entirely in California, has almost a giddy excitement before the biggest fight of his career.
“I’m just really anxious to get in the ring,” said Bradley on Tuesday afternoon. “I’ve been training really hard and I’m just ready to go in the ring and give him hell.”