Timothy Bradley?

Since the fight with Khan fell through and the stripping of his WBC title, Bradley appears to have gone off the radar abit with inactivity. What in your opinions would be the best fight to re-establish himself at 140 or should he move up to 147? one possible fight i can think of would be the winner of Maidana v Petrov (basically Maidana then) for the WBA title, another fight which i think would be great the fans would be against Brandon Rios, who apparently has claimed he plans to move up to 140 soon. Interested to hear your thoughts on this and any other suggestions.

he should fight khan, i understand he has legal problems, but as soon as that is sorted (if its not already) he needs to go for khan as they have "unfinished buisness". failing that i think matteysse, maidana or rios at 140, or brook, berto or ortiz at 147.

He ducked Kahn hoping to get a undeserved fight with Manny for the pay day. That's why he's inactive he tried to sign with Top Rank and Gary Shaw has kicked up some sort of legal dispute leaving him on the sideline. Well deserved imo ducking Khan was shameful after he called him out.

Last time i heard about him he said he was a free agent at beginning of July or something and was expecting to hear something after.

I've never understood the hype about Bradley and think Khan would easily beat him.

Bradley should stay at 140 IMO or move down to 135, he's too small for WW and doesn't have huge power so maybe moving down to LWW would be best or maybe he'll wait for Khan to move up and then come out saying Khan ducked him!

Also, i'm glad the RING magazine this month have finally moved Khan above Bradley in their rankings.

He was a free agent after July but Gary Shaw is taking him to court for breach of contract. I guess he's waiting to see the outcome of the fight before deciding on his options.

He didn't duck Khan, the fact is the legal dispute with Shaw stops him fighting as Bradley wants away from Shaw before he fights again.
As for The Ring moving Khan above Bradley, this must solely be down to inactivity because whether you like his style or not, Bradley has beat all the big fighters at the weight. Khan has fought Maidana and I would suggest he is the only credible fighter he has beaten at LWW so far. Bradley has beaten Holt, Alexander, Witter, Abregu, Peterson and Campbell. Bradley is a proven world champion without any doubt at the weight. He is not as flashy as Khan and does not have the Roach-Pacquaio team behind him which drives a lot of Khans impetus. Bradley - Khan would be a good fight and although very very close I pick Bradley as he is so awkward, tough and always finds a way to win.

I don't believe Bradley has made the improvements than Khan has in the same period. He relies on toughness but I think Khan has too much ring savvy for him. He handled Judah with aplomb from the off and I think he'd mug Bradley as well. Khan's becoming much more polished whereas Tim still seems to be the same guy we first saw against Witter

If Maidana can't finish off Khan then I can't see Desert Storm doing it either. I agree it's the only real fight out there and needs to happen sooner rather than later. Just a shame that both Bradley and khan now seem focused on facing Manny and Floyd respectively rather than meeting each other.

Dave I think its a bit of a stretch to compare Bradley with Judah. Judah is now a well worn fighter. His stamina has gone and he hasn't won a meaningful fight in years. I am a bit surprised by the amount of credit Khan got for beating Judah as I don't think the result was ever in doubt. I would put Judah and Morales together as big names who are well past their prime (way way past it).

Bradley is still in his prime and the layoff will make him hungrier and when he does come back he will be eager to make up for lost time. Khan has improved but I still think his lateral movement isn't up to scratch. He has to come in straight to land his big shots but Bradley although not a KO specialist throws punches from everywhere.
Great fight and the only credible fight left at 140 for Khan, he should concentrate on this and stop the nonsense of calling out Floyd.

Bradley defintely ducked Khan but not strictly because he felt he would get beaten. He was offered a career high payday against Khan and had been calling him out as soon as Amir became the cash cow for the division.

However the big problem was that both Bradley and Alexanader were guaranteed 7 figure paydays in their next fights after their unification fight no matter who won as a sweetner to make their stinker happen.

As his contract was coming to an end with Shaw, Bradley was banking on being a free agent by the time a Khan (or any) fight would be agreed (it was due to expire June/July) although his contract stipulated he still had one more fight to go with Shaw. Shaw wanted him to fight Khan or at least someone as there was still 6 months to go on the contract after Bradley beat Alexander.

Bradley just did the maths and realised despite being offered a huge purse by his standards to fight Khan it would only be a little more than what he was guaranteed for fighting a lesser opponent.

Trying to finad a viable opposition in the timeframe as everyone was fighting everyone else he was left with Khan or nobody. Shaw wanted Khan, Bradley wanted nobody until he was free.

Even when he gets back in the ring he will avoid Khan as I think he can see how much Khan has improved and depsite having notable wins at 140 over Holt,Peterson, Alexander and to a lesser extent Witter (Witter was never top class IMO, Campbell was a lightweight and Abregu was at 147) he has not looked the best at 140 for a while.

"best at 140 for a while."
Good point mikey but would you say a win over Maidana places Khan at the top? It appears to me he has reached there because the rest of the guys have fallen away somewhat. No sign of Alexander, Holt or Bradley. It hasn't too much to do with Khan or his victories over guys that couldnt really be considered top class

Gerard,

I would say a bit of both. Holt has tunred int a win some, lose some at the highest level. Alexander allegedly willl never fight at 140 again and are putting his last performance where he was floored down to him struggling to make weight. Bradley for me was recognised as #1 but has not put on a dominant performance in years. He beat Holt on a close decision after getting off the floor twice, edge a very tentative Alexander and bullied an untested Peterson.

In this time Khan has beaten a underrated Kotlenik (who then went on to have a much close fight with Alexander); crushed a unbeaten #1 contender (have to admit Salita did not even look good on paper); floored and a fight of the year win over the biggest puncher in the division (in a fight no one thought he would ever take and the win looks even better considering Maidana KO Ortiz who has moved upp and made a nam for himself) or follwed two more significant (but only on paper as Judah was past it and McCloskey although unbeaten had not mixed in top class) wins looking to clean up the division.

For me the only fight Bradley can have is against Khan, even at 147 as Amir is talking about moving up. This reminds me a little of Benn and Eubank where Nigels jump the weights to just get a rematch with Chris.

Bradley might have been the man at 140 in the past but he isn't anymore, his fights can't draw flies, he stinks as a performer and his most dangerous weapon is his massive head, not his boxing skills, hence his lack of popularity and financial/bargaining clout.

Bradley's CV is only marginally better and a lot of the supposedly good guys on it have since been exposed. Alexander now looks like a joke having cried out of his fight with Bradley ("It burns, it burns") and otherwise getting handed two very poor decisions against Mathysse and Kotelnik (a fighter Khan thoroughly schooled). Peterson is 'ranked' but otherwise pretty average and I'd expect Khan to again put in a performance against him in his upcoming mandatory and Holt was a good result but 2 1/2 years ago and he's done nothing since.

Ignoring Salita, Khan's last five fight CV is arguably as good and in Maidana has easily the most dangerous scalp bewixt the two of them.

Khan-Bradley is the only fight at the weight and, for once reason or another, the fact is Bradley won't make it. If he gets Pacquaio it will an astonishing destruction as Pacs speed of foot and lateral movement mean Tim's head will never get near him, and with no power to speak of Tim will just get his face turned to jelly before getting stopped in 10 rounds or less.

TopHat, I would be surprised if it goes 5 rounds. if Holt could drop Bradley twice, then Manny will take his head off.

I genuinely think Bradley has dropped the ball slightly, is tough because if he was not happy with his promoters he has the right to get out but his timing was god awful. Did it on the back of a unification which was undoubtedly a stinker but did give him a claim to be number one in the division, also in the time he has been away Khan has been getting the business done to the point where many consider him number one, so if Bradley re-appears just as Khan is outgrowing the division the ducking claims no matter how valid or not are likely to stick.

Personally I think the best think Tim could do is get in touch with Khan and see if either Petersen will be put aside for December or Amir will hang around the weight for one more fight, both possible given Khan's desire to unify or prove he is the man at the weight. Understand his reasons for being inactive but for a guy who did not draw well to start with has been something of a PR disaster, however rumours are he is signing with Top Rank so most likely path is tune up fight at welter followed by Manny as Bob does like to keep things in house.

rowley wrote:I genuinely think Bradley has dropped the ball slightly, is tough because if he was not happy with his promoters he has the right to get out but his timing was god awful. Did it on the back of a unification which was undoubtedly a stinker but did give him a claim to be number one in the division, also in the time he has been away Khan has been getting the business done to the point where many consider him number one, so if Bradley re-appears just as Khan is outgrowing the division the ducking claims no matter how valid or not are likely to stick.

Personally I think the best think Tim could do is get in touch with Khan and see if either Petersen will be put aside for December or Amir will hang around the weight for one more fight, both possible given Khan's desire to unify or prove he is the man at the weight. Understand his reasons for being inactive but for a guy who did not draw well to start with has been something of a PR disaster, however rumours are he is signing with Top Rank so most likely path is tune up fight at welter followed by Manny as Bob does like to keep things in house.

Bradley's standing has dropped as far as I'm concerned. Certainly never proved himself "the man" at LWW and therefore chasing a big money fight with Manny whilst having done precisely bog all to warrant it, shows him up to be nothing more than a money grabbing little oik. What Would Jesus Do? Clearly he'd sell his soul for 30 pieces of silver....oooooh the irony.

Rowley if you've returned, does this mean that the eternally tiresome TRUSSMAN will also be rejoining the forum (not that he ever really 'quit' in the first place)?

Ey up Jeff.

The Peterson fight does seem pointless from Khan's point of view, he has stated a desire to clean up at the weight, although I would think he would rather go after Morales' WBC belt and then he'd have three of the big four.

Union Cane wrote:Ey up Jeff.

The Peterson fight does seem pointless from Khan's point of view, he has stated a desire to clean up at the weight, although I would think he would rather go after Morales' WBC belt and then he'd have three of the big four.

Facing Morales will set Khan back several steps as he'll go back to being accused of grave robbing like he did when beating Barrera.

DAVE667 wrote:Facing Morales will set Khan back several steps as he'll go back to being accused of grave robbing like he did when beating Barrera.

Not so sure, as it would be for the belt and therefore surely a legitimate fight?

Bradley should face Matteysse next off or if he moves up then Berto or Jones otherwise he is going to be taking a backword step while Khan pushes on above him. As said earlier Khan has now finally been credited as top LWW

Union suspect you're right does seem to be really set on Morales, apart from the payday I really can't understand why if he beats him comfortably as most suspect he will how much credit is there really in it. Also feel the Maidana fight really flattered Erik, as Marcos is just a crude guy with a wallop, so the few assets Erik still possesses such as heart and a chin pretty much neutralised this.

Whether you think Bradley is still the number one or Khan has outstripped him nobody would have him outside the top two and if Khan beats him he can leave the division content in the knowledge even his stauchest critics would have to acknowledge he had cleared the division out.

I'm presuming Morales will beat Cano, although I have predicted that Cano will spark him early, would Khan vs Cano get the pulse racing?

For me Bradley needs a big fight both for his career and also i suspect financially.

Khan reperesented that at light welterweight and for whatever reasons, the fight hasnt happened and wont be any time soon. I think if Khan gos to welterweight then Bradley might aswell follow and you would have a division then with the likes of Mayweather, Khan, Bradley, Ortiz, Pacquaio, Berto and possibly Maidana which would have much more potential for big fights and without Khan at light welter there isnt a whole lot Bradley can do there that he hasnt done already. The division would be weak with few big fight opportunities that I think Bradley needs at this stage of his career. As others have noted, his lack of activity has seen him fade off the scene abit and Khan has outstripped him in many ways in terms of acheivement and marketability. Bradley needs Khan more than Khan needs Bradley at this stage.

Union Cane wrote:Ey up Jeff.

The Peterson fight does seem pointless from Khan's point of view, he has stated a desire to clean up at the weight, although I would think he would rather go after Morales' WBC belt and then he'd have three of the big four.

Isn't the Peterson fight Khan's mandatory? Thought I read that somewhere. I'd like to see him take on Matthysse (if Tim 'Ducker' Bradley won't engage). Morales would be a belt and a name but both would be heavily tainted.