Entering last night’s fight both Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez had a lot to prove. Marquez wanted to prove that he is one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time. His bouts with manny Pacquiao had set the stage for him to be known through that rivalry but his potential would only be reached by obtaining a belt in his 5th different weight class.
For Bradley he entered the fight in search of the respect that he has yet to garner. His win against Manny Pacquiao is considered a fluke to many and his last fight saw him almost knocked out twice by a lesser fighter in Ruslan Provodnikov.
Only one fighter would leave the night with the legacy he’d hoped to achieve.
Unfortuantely for Marquez he won’t ride off into the sunset as one of the best boxers ever, but instead he’ll probably be recognized as “The guy that floored Pacquiao that one time.” Hopefully he receives another shot at a marquee fight but at age 40 those opportunities aren’t around as much as earlier in his career.
With the victory Timothy Bradley now puts his name atop a short list of elite fighters this decade. Besides Floyd Mayweather not many people have compiled a better resume in the ring. His style may not be exciting at times but it is surely effective.
As I said in my article yesterday Bradley has set himself up for an interesting 2024 campaign. His ear I potential will never be higher than it is right now after his wins against two future Hall of fame boxers. To capitalize monetarily he should next set his sights upon the revamped Miguel Cotto.
That fight in April or May would give Bradley another huge notch on the belt heading into a possible fall match up with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
If for some reason Floyd dislikes Bob Arum so much that he refuses to fight any of his fighters under any circumstances a match with then household name Gennady Golovkin would be just see TV. Bradley has never seen power like Golovkin’s and with his recent obsession with getting into exchanges late in rounds that fight may be the toughest fight of his career.