Tim Bradley is still searching for his due respect despite an undefeated record and a championship win over Manny Pacquiao. Last night’s win over Ruslan Provodnikov have made Bradley an exciting draw for casual boxing fans.
Bradley has been known to fight a very technical fight, which often bored fans and boxing experts. Last night he made it a point to come out and trade punches blow for blow with Provodnikov. Provodnikov showed his power by rocking Bradley a few times during the bout. Bradley’s chin ended up being the most impressive attribute of the night though. He was able to withstand huge punches in the 1st, 2nd, and 12th rounds. He was adamant on showing the fans and critics that he could put on an exciting match.
Bradley, who went back to his usual intelligent style of boxing to win the fight comfortably, showed his ability to fight at the highest level. The style of this fight did pay its dividends, gaining a huge buzz on twitter and catapulting Bradley into a realm of boxing’s toughest fighters. The stadium, which was at 40% capacity at the beginning of the fight should be doubled for his next fight.
Manny Pacquiao will more than likely look to fight Marquez for a 5th time, but if he decides to recapture his title from Bradley it’d make the bout a marquee match. Bradley and Pacqiuao trading punches would easily give them a leg up on fight of the year. Bradley undefeated and Pacman looking to stabilize his boxing career would create the intrigue that has been missing from Bradley’s previous fights.
During my interview with Bradley earlier in the week he expressed his willingness to fight Pacquiao again:
“Yeah absolutely, I wanted a rematch after the fight. We were supposed to do it when he fought Marquez; he had other plans and decided not to fight me for whatever reason.” – Bradley
No matter what the future holds for Bradley his undefeated record and elevated excitement level should make him a sought after opponent. It’d be interesting to see hm fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. at some point. They are both products of traditional boxing and would make for the most fundamental fights of the decade.
Though being close to defeat several times Bradley was able to pull out the victory and double his worth to the boxing community. It was a huge gamble but one that looks to be paying off in the days following the fight.