By James Slater – As fans know, unbeaten 140-pound star Timothy Bradley has been missing from the ring for a seemingly unfathomable amount of time; with “Desert Storm” not having boxed since January of this year. Having reportedly turned down a big payday of a fight with Amir Khan, Bradley has mystified many fans.
But there is good news for Bradley fans..
According to the man with all the news, Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, promotional giant Top Rank is attempting to sign Bradley, 27-0(11) in time for him to fight on the under-card of the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III card set for Vegas on November 12th.
Reportedly, Bradley is still in a legal dispute with former promoter Gary Shaw, but if they can reach an agreement (which Rafael says he expects), the Palm Springs fighter will be “headed to Top Rank.”
It would be great to see the skills of Bradley back on display before the end of the year, and of course, his appearance on the Pac-Man-Marquez card would only add to the rumours that suggest Bradley could be Pacquiao’s next challenger. Bradley has wanted a crack at the reigning Pound-for-Pound king for a long time now, and if he signs up with Top Rank, Bob Arum could surely make the fight with some ease. And, Floyd Mayweather Junior aside, who else would make a great 2012 rival for Manny?
Of course, every fighter even remotely close to the 147-pound limit wants a piece of the Pac-Man sweepstakes, with guys as small as Yuriorkis Gamboa calling the Filipino sensation out. But realistically, Bradley is both big enough and fast enough to be able to give the soon to be 33-year-old real problems.
Let’s hope 28-year-old Bradley, a potentially great fighter, gets his legal issues ironed out soon.
Bradley’s Five Best Wins To Date:
1: Unified the WBC and WBO 140-pound belts with a wide (on two cards) TD win over the unbeaten Devon Alexander. Since the Jan. 2011 win, Bradley has not been seen.
2: Out-boxed the talented Lamont Peterson in Dec. 2009, winning an impressive 12-round UD over the man who is almost certainly next for Amir Khan.
3: Won his first major title with a close win over a streaking Junior Witter back in May of 2008. Travelling to England for the fight, Bradley became the first man in 21 fights to defeat the tricky switch-hitter.
4: Got up from a knockdown to win an exciting 12-round UD over a game Kendall Holt back in April of 2009. This win saw Bradley pick up the WBO title for the first time.
5: Basically made the worldly Nate Campbell quit back in August of 2009. The fight was ruled a 3-round No-Contest, but Bradley was dominating the action before Campbell picked up a cut above his eye – ruled accidental.
Now, is there enough evidence amongst that lot to suggest Bradley has the beating of Pacquiao? I’m not so sure, but I’d like to see the fight anyway!