And So It Begins...HBO/Arum/Dunkin Not Happy at Bradley for Declining Peterson Fight

[solo20]

Peterson can take a hike he shouldnt be boxing he is a cheater why should Bradley give him a paid day

[I Love Jesus!]

Bradley December date nearly dead


MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. -- The return of welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr., tentatively scheduled for an HBO main event on Dec. 15 at the Marlins Park baseball stadium in Miami, Fla., probably won't take place.

Considering who the likely opponent was going to be -- junior welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson -- that's not a bad thing.

In 2009, when Bradley was a junior welterweight titleholder, he manhandled Peterson. He dropped him and won by virtual shutout in an uncompelling fight that barely drew any fans in Bradley's own hometown. So a rematch that no one was asking for at a big ballpark made no sense, unless you like watching an uninteresting fight in front of tens of thousands of empty seats.

For whatever reason, HBO wanted to do the fight and is pretty ticked off that Bradley is balking, according to a source at the network and Top Rank's Bob Arum, Bradley's promoter.

Now, keep in mind that Bradley's return on Dec. 15 isn't 100 percent dead yet, but it's close. And if he does fight, it won't be against Peterson. To Bradley's credit, he agrees with the sentiment: What's the point of a rematch? There is none.

"We're going to have another talk and discuss other options besides Peterson and see if there are any other options at HBO for Dec. 15," Cameron Dunkin, Peterson's manager, told me Friday.

Bradley last fought in June, when he got a gift decision -- one of the most controversial ever -- against Manny Pacquiao. Arum, for his part, didn't seem happy about Bradley's change of heart about Dec. 15.

"Cameron and I are mystified. We're mystified," Arum said. "What do you want me to say?"

"He hasn't given [Dec. 15] up yet, but he might," Dunkin said of Bradley. "He told me that he might want to go in February instead. He's not excited about fighting Peterson again. He said he's already been down that road and doesn't want to go there again. He wants to see if there is fresh, new blood -- something new or different. That would make him a lot more excited, if there was another opponent that HBO would do."

The problem is, the pool of good opponents is thin. There was some talk of a match with Andre Berto or Robert Guerrero, both very good fights. Alas, they aren't happening. Guerrero is with Golden Boy, so the Golden Boy-Top Rank feud killed that. And Berto is de facto with Golden Boy now, thanks to the machinations of adviser Al Haymon (who forced Berto's career-long promoter, Lou DiBella, to the sideline in order to set up a supposed one-fight deal with Golden Boy). Bottom line, Bradley is left with slim pickings, which is the reason why Peterson was even brought up in the first place.

The relationship between Bradley and Arum is also further strained because Bradley has hired attorney Gaby Penagaricano, with whom Arum had a recent falling out over Penagaricano's most famous client, Miguel Cotto.

"They put this Gaby on the phone, and I won't talk to Gaby," Arum said. "Let him talk to my lawyer. I'm not talking to him. So Dec. 15 is up in the air. HBO is really pissed."

At one point, the thought was that Bradley didn't want to fight in December because his feet -- both of which were injured in the fight with Pacquiao -- were still giving him trouble. But apparently that isn't the reason.

"Cameron told me he was complaining his feet were injured, and then he threw Cameron under the bus and said his feet weren't injured, so who the hell knows?" Arum said.

Who knows, indeed. More important, when it comes to the prospect of Bradley-Peterson II, who really cares?

http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/p...te-nearly-dead

what a bunch of babies refusing to work with everyone. Get ****ed then cuz it only hurts the fighters who's interests you are supposed to represent.

[IMDAZED]

SMH at Arum saying "HBO is really upset." Yeah, I'm sure the top dogs were begging for a rematch against Peterson :rolleye:. Bradley still has the date so I'm pretty sure if he can find a better opponent, they will be glad to roll with it. I suspect he does find one but doesn't fight in December.

[kiaba360]

What's depressing is that the TR/GBP feud has become an accepted excuse for when fights don't happen, shit is ridiculous. I'm glad that Bradley is flexing the authority he has as the BOXER, the guy who actually has to train for 6-8 weeks and then step in the ring.

[IIG]

Bradley deserves this ****ty treatment from Arum for signing with Top Rank in the first place. But nobody wants to see a Peterson rematch, so good for him for saying no.

[285Kid]

None Golden Boy guys he can fight

Cesar Rene Cuenca
Diego Chavez
Antonin Decaire
Jan Zaveck
Anton Novikov

[Canelo Phresh]

Hes gonna go the way of Clottey if he doesnt make nice with Lord High Arum.

[warp1432]

SMH at Arum saying "HBO is really upset." Yeah, I'm sure the top dogs were begging for a rematch against Peterson :rolleye:. Bradley still has the date so I'm pretty sure if he can find a better opponent, they will be glad to roll with it. I suspect he does find one but doesn't fight in December.

They wanted to buy it. Peterson was their back up if Guerrero, their first choice, fell out.

Bradley is acting immature here, again. He's the typical fighter who thinks he's much more than he's worth. That's twice now in his career that he chose "business" decisions instead of taking reasonable paydays.

Except this time, Pacquiao ain't walking through that door.

[Rome-By-Ko]

None Golden Boy guys he can fight

Cesar Rene Cuenca
Diego Chavez
Antonin Decaire
Jan Zaveck
Anton Novikov

What about Josesito Lopez??I don't believe he is with GBP,and I'm pretty sure any network would love to pick that fight up...

[.:: JSFD26 ::.]

What about Josesito Lopez??I don't believe he is with GBP,and I'm pretty sure any network would love to pick that fight up...

Could've sworn he was with Golden Boy? And either way he's with Haymon. We all know that ain't gonna happen.