Tim Bradley boxing news
It has been confirmed that WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (32-1-1, 12ko) has officially split from long-time trainer Joel Diaz, following on from his recent win over Jessie Vargas in June.
Speaking out to address the many conflicting reports that began emerging last night on social media, “Desert Storm” said of the decision to part ways with the man who guided him from his pro debut 11 years ago, to world titles in 2 divisions, including WBC youth honours;
Much to the chagrin of many hardcore British fight fans keen to see their IBF 147 lb champion Kell Brook in a big fight with a marquee name, the wait will go on as a unification fight with WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley is officially off the cards for 2015.
After also seeing a mooted bout with Stateside brawler Brandon Rios fall by the wayside recently, it is now looking increasingly likely that Argentina’s Diego Chaves will indeed be making the trip across the Atlantic towards the end of the year to fight Brook, as earlier reports indicated.
Given that Top Rank’s Bob Arum has been in the UK recently meeting with various British fight figures, including Matchroom Sport’s Barry Hearn and his son Eddie, it should come as no surprise that the plan now appears to be to try and match their IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook with new WBO 147 lb champion and TR man, Tim Bradley.
Brook has been struggling to get an opponent together with the date of his proposed return shifting further and further away as negotiations continue with various outlets to secure a credible opponent the hardcore fans here in the UK will deem worthy enough of standing in the opposite corner.
The frustration in the Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, California must be growing stronger by the day regarding Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios actually getting a fight scheduled anytime soon. After watching a mooted bout with Britain’s IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook fall apart recently due to contract/financial minutiae, a rumoured bout with new WBO 147 lb champion Tim Bradley is also now down the toilet, according to Rios’ manager Cameron Dunkin.
Speaking to ESPN.com, Dunkin said with regards to Rios/Bradley happening, the two camps were too far apart on agreeing the financials, this despite having broadcasting giant HBO on board with the idea. According to Dunkin, Top Rank President Todd duBoef told him this week to start making other plans for his client.
After Top Rank’s plans to match Brandon Rios with IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook fell through recently – for a host of reported reasons, chief of which is now believed to be financial minutiae – their attentions quickly turned on matching “Bam Bam” with another Top Rank fighter, new WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley, hopefully in December.
However, late last week the WBO ordered Bradley and Top Rank to begin negotiations for a mandatory defence against up and coming unbeaten New Yorker Sadam Ali, who is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy.
American brawler Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios finally has cause to celebrate, with a probable challenge to WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley provisionally scheduled for November, according to his manager Cameron Dunkin.
Rios hasn’t been in a boxing ring since January when he brutalized old foe “Mile High” Mike Alvarado in their third meeting, forcing the Colorado man to retire after a 3 round beating in which Alvarado simply didn’t turn up.
The debate on whether boxing is the premium combat sport over mixed martial arts is generally a hollow argument dressed in ignorance. After all, they are two vastly different fighting disciplines only linked by their mutually destructive aim of rendering an opponent unconscious. You are unlikely to wage an impassioned discussion of the respective merits of Rugby versus American football, so why afford the column inches to the tedious boxing – UFC dispute?
Preston B. (San Francisco, CA): Timothy Bradley has proven time and time again that he’s the best welterweight in the world. I don’t think he gets the respect he deserves and I never understood that. He knows how to win. How did you rate his performance and his talent in general?
Vivek W. (ESB): Timothy Bradley is tough topic to tackle for me at times. I often think back to his fight across the pond against Junior Witter. I had seen him before and studied a few notes on him, but after that performance I became a very big fan. The heart he displayed that night in an effort thousands of miles away in another man’s land was as good as it gets. Where my personal trouble comes with Bradley is his inability to be consistent with those type of performances. We saw him look great against arguably the best Mexican warrior and future Hall of Famer of this era (Marquez); we’ve seen him look awful against the likes of Provodnikov.
Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley Jr., 32-1-1 (12KO) the favorite, did what was expected. He pounded out a unanimous decision over the until then unbeaten Jessie Vargas 26-1-0 (9KO). All too often the 5′ 10″ Vargas gave up his four inch height advantage. He allowed Bradley to control the distance and land his own jab and just out work him. Neither man is a big puncher, so neither man was in serious trouble until the last round. That is when the fun started Saturday night at the StubHub Center, Carson, CA.
With under twenty-seconds left in the fight, Bradley got careless and in the middle of an exchange, he dropped his guard. At just about that precise moment Vargas was uncorking a big right hand.
Boxing is littered with bizarre incidents and controversy, from in-ring riots to Parachutist’s landing in the ring – yet last night’s welterweight clash between Tim Bradley and Jessie Vargas introduced us to a slightly different kind of strange when referee Pat Russell initially appeared to wave the fight off in favour of Vargas – who behind on all 3 cards – rocked Bradley badly in the dying seconds of the final round.
This prompted wild celebration from the WBA 140 lb champion, when in actual fact, Russell was signaling the end of the action after mistaking the 10-second clacker for the final bell – and after much confusion, order was restored and the rightful winner announced – with Bradley getting the unanimous decision by scores of (115-112, 116-112 AND 117-111).