By Chris Robinson
That latest news regarding WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley has the 29-year old lined up with a December 15th rematch with IBF junior welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson in Miami, Florida. In their first meeting nearly three years ago, Bradley dropped Peterson in the third round on his way towards a convincing unanimous decision victory inside of the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California.
Admittedly, a second encounter with Peterson isn’t the fight Bradley was after. Having upset Manny Pacquiao via a controversial split-decision on June 9th, Bradley was eager to show his worth with an immediate rematch with the Filipino icon.
Having caught up with Bradley’s trainer Joel Diaz over the weekend, the Indio, California-based coach seemed a little discouraged when assessing his fighter’s future. Still stinging from the negative backlash that came from the Pacquiao victory, Diaz opened up on a variety of topics, including another Peterson melee, Manny’s December 8th meeting with Juan Manuel Marquez, his thoughts on boxing’s critics, and much more.
This is what Diaz had to share…
Why a Tim Bradley-Lamont Peterson rematch may be different…
“No, it’s not going to be like the first fight. Lamont Peterson hasn’t matured a lot, but a couple losses in his resume, that doesn’t make him the Lamont Peterson when he was undefeated. But if that’s the fight that we’re going to have, right now at this point, whatever is out there for Tim, as long as we keep him active, it’s fine. I can’t be asking for big names. At the end of the day, the promoters are the ones who give us what they want.”
Dealing with the critics…
“Whatever I say, whatever comment I say, the whole world and all those cowards behind their computer, start attacking me as if I did something wrong, you know? I wish they would get their *sses out of their chair and start looking for me with the comment that they post on those videos. At this point, any comment I make, just a bunch of cowards, a bunch of sissies [will be] sitting behind their computers posting comments.”
Ready for whoever…
“If Lamont Peterson is the guy we’re fighting, hey, bring it on. I don’t care. We’ll train for Lamont Peterson. If Robert Guerrero is the opponent, we’re training for Robert Guerrero. IF [it’s] Andre Berto, we’re training for Andre Berto. Right now, I don’t think Manny Pacquiao is anywhere close."
Thought on Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez IV…
“That fight was done right after the Pacquiao-Bradley fight. Good luck to both of them. It’s just another fight. I guess people want to see that fight. A lot of people think it’s a ridiculous fight. Business-wise, it’s another fight for Pacquiao. There’s no way Marquez will win that fight. It’s just another business fight for the promoters to make money. At the end of the day, Manny Pacquiao is the golden goose. He’s the one with the name. The only way he would lose is if he would get knocked out by Marquez. Otherwise, he won’t win. What’s in the future for Marquez?”
Defending Tim Bradley…
“I don’t need to show anybody anything. Tim has shown himself. He’s undefeated, 29-0. If you don’t like the way Tim fights, too bad. He’s still undefeated. How come all these fighters can’t beat him? We’re talking about real fighters like Kendall Holt, Junior Witter, Nate Campbell, Carlos Abregu, Lamont Peterson in his prime. One way or another, Tim is victorious. To the whole world, I guess Tim has been robbing everybody.”
Bradley’s victory over Pacquiao, in his eyes…
“That night with Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley, to me, I saw Tim Bradley win the fight. But the fact that it went to decision, I said ‘It’s going to be hard to beat him by decision’. Even though I thought we won the fight, I really didn’t think they were going to give us the decision, but they did. I told my corner ‘We won this fight’, because I felt that we won that fight. People see what they want to see. There are critics, I can’t change that. I’m losing the love for the sport that I’ve been in for many years.”
ADD COMMENT VIEW COMMENTS (46)