Timothy Bradley
Timothy Bradley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Timothy Ray Bradley Jr. 29 August 1983 |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Desert Storm |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Light welterweight |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Reach | 69 in (175 cm) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 29 |
| Wins | 28 |
| Wins by KO | 12 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 1 |
Timothy Ray Bradley Jr. (born 29 August 1983) is an American boxer, fighting out of Palm Springs, California. He is the current WBO light welterweight champion, and former two-time WBC light welterweight champion.
Professional career
Light Welterweight
Bradley had his first professional bout on the 20th of August 2004, knocking out Francisco Martinez in the second round. Bradley won the WBC junior welterweight title by defeating British fighter Junior Witter in England.
WBC/WBO Unification
On 4 April 2009, Bradley fought Kendall Holt to unify his WBC and Holt's WBO titles. Bradley was dropped in the first round by a huge left hook and was badly hurt but regrouped and outboxed Holt for most of the fight, before being sent to the canvas again in the 12th round. Nonetheless, Bradley got up and finished the fight. He won the fight by unanimous decision and became the WBO champion.[1]
Bradley vs. Campbell
Several days after his unification bout with Holt, Bradley was stripped of his WBC light welterweight title, because of failure to fight Devon Alexander, his mandatory challenger.[2] As a result, the title became vacant and Alexander stopped Witter at the end of eight rounds to win the belt. The Alexander-Witter fight was on the undercard of Bradley's August 1 fight with Nate Campbell in Bradley's hometown of Palm Springs. Campbell,a former lightweight champion, was coming up in weight after he failed to make the lightweight limit in his last fight. Bradley's fight with Campbell only lasted three rounds after Campbell chose not to continue when a cut formed over and behind his left eye. Bradley was awarded the TKO victory, but the verdict was later changed.[3] A replay showed that the cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads. The rules states, that if a fight is stopped by a cut caused by an accidental headbutt before the end of round four, it should be called a no contest. The California State Athletic Commission therefore changed the result.
Bradley vs. Peterson
On December 5, Bradley took on Mandatory Challenger Lamont Peterson. Bradley dominated the fight, knocking Peterson down in the third round and went on to win a lopsided unanimous decision.
Bradley vs. Abregu
In his HBO Debut, Bradley was scheduled to face Luis Abregu in a nontitle bout at welterweight, however Bradley's promoter told ESPN.com that he had made a deal with Golden Boy Promotions to fight interim title holder and knockout artist Marcos Maidana at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California, only a few miles from Bradley's hometown of Palm Springs. The fight was scheduled to take place on June 19, but due to a back injury to Marcos Maidana the fight was postponed. So he went back to his original plan to move up in weight and the fight with Abregu was back on for July 17 at the Agua Caliente Casino.[4] Although clearly out-sized, Bradley proved too quick and too skilled for the hard-hitting Abregu winning by unanimous decision, with the judges' scorecards reading 119-111, 118-112, and 117-113. At the end of the fight, Bradley openly made a challenge to pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, calling for him to "Come break down this wall". Bradley also called out Devon Alexander, Amir Khan, and Marcos Maidana.
Bradley vs. Alexander
On January 29, 2011, Timothy Bradley defended his WBO Light Welterweight Title in a unification fight against fellow light welterweight WBC title holder Devon Alexander at the Silverdome Arena in Detroit. Bradley won via 10th round technical decision.
As stipulated in the contract of the fight against Devon Alexander, Bradley would be given a $1.3 million payday regardless of whomever he selected as his opponent for his next fight. While the public wanted Bradley to fight WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and unify the division,[citation needed] Bradley opted to not take the fight.
Following, the unification of the WBA Super and IBF titles by fellow Light welterweight, Amir Khan, Bradley would drop to #2 in the Light welterweight division rankings of Ring Magazine and ESPN, with Amir Khan at #1.[5][6]
Stripped of WBC Title
Timothy Bradley was stripped of his title as he refused to fight World Boxing Association Jr. Welterweight Champion Amir Khan. Many have speculated that Bradley was not satisfied with the $1.3 million to fight a boxer of Khan's caliber, although this was Bradley highest pay day in his entire career so far, also he had admitted that it was to risky to fight Amir Khan, stating What if I lose then I am out the sweep-stake to fight pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao for 7.5 millon dollars on American radio show Leave It In The Ring.[7] Bradley's refusal to take the fight led to a falling out between him and his promoter Gary Shaw. Subsequently he was stripped of the WBC title due to inactivity.[8]
Joins Top Rank
Timothy Bradley joined Top Rank and will make his debut with them when he fights on the under card of Marquez Pacquaio III against Joel Casamayor.
Bradley vs. Casamayor
On November 12, 2011, Bradley defended his WBO light welterweight title against former lightweight titlist Joel Casamayor, 40, on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III. Bradley won by TKO in the eighth round in making his case for a shot at Pacquiao.
Professional boxing record
See also
References
- ^ Associated Press (2009-04-05). "Bradley was lucky to outpoints Holt to unify WBC and WBO titles". Sporting News holt was unlucky not to win the fight. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4108299
- ^ http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=20698&more=1
- ^ "Fight set for Bradley, Abregu". ESPN. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ http://ringtv.craveonline.com/ratings/jr-welterweight
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=6995567
- ^ http://beatsboxingmayhem.com/2011/04/27/timothy-bradley-turns-down-over-1-3-million-for-amir-khan-fight/
- ^ http://fighthype.com/pages/content10121.html
- ^ http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=33535&cat=boxer
External links
- Boxing record for Timothy Bradley from BoxRec (registration required)