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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Reintroduction time has arrived for Timothy Bradley.
The popular Californian is a former champion in two weight classes and has a slew of familiar names on his resume, but it’s been nearly two years since he emerged from a ring with a decisive victory.
His most recent fight – against Diego Chaves in December – ended in a disputed draw, but even those who thought Bradley deserved the verdict weren’t overwhelmed with the quality of his work.
He’ll step in on Saturday with Jessie Vargas, another ex-champ at 140 pounds looking to climb.
The bout is being billed by Top Rank as a WBO championship match, though the validity of that claim has been called into question by the belt’s most recent holder – Floyd Mayweather Jr. – who suggests rumors of his voluntarily surrendering the strap have been greatly exaggerated.
Bradley was a WBC and WBO champion at 140, then became the WBO’s welterweight claimant after his controversial decision win over Manny Pacquiao. He defended twice, outpointing both Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez, before losing the title back to Pacquiao in 2014.
Bradley sat down for a fight-week interview to discuss Vargas as a foe, the urgency to reinvigorate the “Desert Storm” brand [Click Here To Read More]
The popular Californian is a former champion in two weight classes and has a slew of familiar names on his resume, but it’s been nearly two years since he emerged from a ring with a decisive victory.
His most recent fight – against Diego Chaves in December – ended in a disputed draw, but even those who thought Bradley deserved the verdict weren’t overwhelmed with the quality of his work.
He’ll step in on Saturday with Jessie Vargas, another ex-champ at 140 pounds looking to climb.
The bout is being billed by Top Rank as a WBO championship match, though the validity of that claim has been called into question by the belt’s most recent holder – Floyd Mayweather Jr. – who suggests rumors of his voluntarily surrendering the strap have been greatly exaggerated.
Bradley was a WBC and WBO champion at 140, then became the WBO’s welterweight claimant after his controversial decision win over Manny Pacquiao. He defended twice, outpointing both Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez, before losing the title back to Pacquiao in 2014.
Bradley sat down for a fight-week interview to discuss Vargas as a foe, the urgency to reinvigorate the “Desert Storm” brand [Click Here To Read More]
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