This Saturday night at the Stub Hub Center, former two division title holder Tim Bradley (31-1-1, 12 KOs) will fight at welterweight against WBA light welterweight belt holder Jessie Vargas (26-0, 9 KOs), for the WBO title Floyd Mayweather vacated after defeating Manny Pacquiao.
Bradley said Saturday’s fight will be a proving ground for both himself and Vargas, who is unbeaten. Bradley sat down with BSO to discuss his back to the basics style of training, Floyd Mayweather, and whether he needs a knockout to keep the decision out of the referee’s hands.
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BSO: You altered your training a bit recently. How are you feeling as you get set to take on Vargas?
TB: “We went back to old school training — sledgehammers, medicine balls, swimming. This is a hard camp but we are facing a fighter who hungry to win as well. “I said I had to change. “But I felt the wear. Oh, my God, my knees and elbows, my neck.
BSO: Was the return to old school training also beneficial in you regaining your power? And why was coming into the fight stronger, so important to you?
TB:“I want to be strong and get a decisive win over Vargas – like knock him out and put him to sleep. I know he’s going to have a will to win but I am generating more power in camp. I’ve gone back to my roots in training, doing things which got me to this high level.
BSO: Do you feel like you have to knock Vargas out to keep the decision out of the judges hands?
TB: “That draw was really a setback to me.” “I couldn’t understand how I got a draw. It hurt. Honestly, I felt I won the fight handily. It just hurt me to come out of there with a draw in a fight I felt I cleanly won. And so I felt I had to make some changes and go back to the roots and take it out of the judges’ hands.
“They say fighters can’t generate more power, that you have what you’re born with and that’s it. But I didn’t believe it and I felt like I could study and figure out what I had to do. I would see baseball players adding power later in their careers, and there were golfers who started hitting it farther. And of course, tennis players, too. So I kind of figured, ‘If these guys can add power, why can’t I?’ So I had to just go out and try to figure out how to make it happen.” So I included my hips, legs and total body into my training.”
BSO: Are you still interested in the move up to 154?
TB: “I’m interested in fighting at whatever weight will bring me a great fight.” “I’ll fight Triple G. He puts on his pants just like I put on my pants,” “I’m not a coward, and I got skills. I believe in my skills. I’ll fight him. Nobody else wants to fight him. I’ll fight him at 160. I will. Everybody starts stuttering when they mention Triple G. I want that 5th world championship.”
“154-pounds, a lot of people think I’m crazy that I’m going to 154 because I’m a small guy, but let me tell you, I fought many years as an amateur at 152-pounds against guys that were 6′, 6’2, 5’11. Big guys, like the Dirrell brothers, just to give you an example of how big those guys are and I fought them in the amateurs. I don’t have any problem going up in weight to face them. They’re about my size, I don’t even think they’re that big, they’re just stocky.”
“Going up to 160lbs, why not? I walk around at 170lbs, sometimes I get even above 170lbs. When I’m not training, when I’m not doing anything, I eat and my body naturally goes up to a higher weight. 160 is not bad for me, it’s not bad at all.”
BSO: I know it’s unlikely to happen, but give me your thoughts on Floyd Mayweather. I’ve heard you say recently, that you know the formula to success against Money Mayweather?
TB: “Floyd’s the best in the business. I would love the opportunity to face Floyd Mayweather, but you know Floyd does what he wants.” “He’s the cash cow of boxing. He’s the king right now and I respect that.”
“I believe that I would be the first man to beat Mayweather. “It would be a tough fight. That guy’s clever. He’ll stay on the outside. But eventually, he’ll start coming to me — bringing the pressure, trying to bang my body, trying to outwit me with his smarts. I think that’s how it would go.”
BSO: Did Jessie Vargas make a mistake in switching trainers midway through, and what do you think of Erik Morales?
TB: “Real talk,” “Jessie Vargas? I’m going to whup his ass next Saturday!” “And if Morales got a problem and he wants some, he can get some at the end of the year, too. I’m going to beat his boy, then I can come back and I’ll beat his behind.
“He’s coming into the lion’s den now.” “He’s leaving the little puppies alone. He’s coming up and fighting the real fighters. I’m a real fighter. I’ve made a name for myself in the sport by fighting the best. Now it’s Jessie’s turn to see if he can beat the best. That’s what this fight boils down to.
“And it’s my time to show the world and myself that I’m still one of the best in the game and I can beat Jessie Vargas, a young, hungry lion who is 26. When I was 26, you couldn’t tell me nothing. I would have fought King Kong.”