by Geoffrey Ciani (Interviewed by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – This week’s 115th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with unified WBC/WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs) who is rumored to have another unification fight against WBA champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KOs) pending Khan’s outcome in his April clash with Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KOs). Bradley is coming off of a surprisingly easy win against previously undefeated champion Devon Alexander (21-1, 13 KOs). Bradley spoke about his recent victory, the prospect of facing Khan, and various other topics pertaining to the current boxing landscape. Here is what he had to say:
Regarding rumors of a potential unification match between him and Amir Khan:
“I think that’s going to be the next fight. They’re planning for July 23. We’re trying to get that fight made. You know Amir Khan has a fight in April. God willing he’ll get through that fight unscathed and we’ll be meeting July 23. I think it’s going to be a great showdown. I think Amir Khan brings a lot to the table and I’m ready to show you who the best junior middleweight in the world is.”
Whether he worries that Amir Khan could get injured or lose in his April fight against Paul McCloskey:
“Yeah. Anything can happen in boxing. It takes just one punch to win a fight and I’m just hoping everything lines up perfectly. I hope he doesn’t get injured and like you said nothing is for sure in boxing, but Amir Khan can’t run anywhere else, I mean he has to go through me if he wants to be considered the best fighter in the world at 140 pound. I think he has really no other option but to fight me. So I don’t think he’s going to run. I think he wants the fight. He said it out of his mouth that he wants to fight me and he’s willing to do that July 23. So hey, let’s do it then!”
On what it would mean to get the opportunity to face Khan in a unification fight:
“Yeah I believe it was after I fought against Lamont Peterson, we were trying to get in the ring with Amir Khan. That’s when he was with Frank Warren and then he transferred and went over to Golden Boy and Golden Boy just wasn’t interested at the time. So I mean finally now, it’s come to this point. I did everything that he pretty much asked me to do. I fought Devon Alexander, he fought against Marcos Maidana and he said the winner should face the winner. I won, he won, hey! Now let’s have a showdown!”
His views on fans who were critical of his unification fight against Devon Alexander:
“I can’t make Devon fight a fight. I came to fight. I can’t make Devon fight. I took it to him from the opening bell. Stylistically the fight wasn’t a good matchup. I look back at it. It is what it is. I got the victory. That’s all that matters to me anyway and I’m ready to show the fans what I really can do by beating Amir Khan. So they have a lot to look forward to. Amir Khan I think has the perfect style for my style. Amir Khan, like I said he brings a lot to the table. He’s very active. He’s trained by one of the best trainers in the world. He’s an Olympic Silver Medalist. I mean the guy brings a lot to the table and that’s a big challenge for me, and I’ll definitely be up for the challenge.”
On whether he feels he is not receiving due credit for beating the undefeated Alexander in a unification clash:
“At first I was but now I’m like whatever. There are always going to be doubters out there. Everybody is not going to like me and like my style, but for the boxing fans that do I really appreciate them. It’s time to move on. Devon Alexander was like a month or so ago. I’m over the fact. I got the win. I’m settling in and now I’m moving on to bigger and better things.”
On whether he believed his fight with Alexander would be more competitive going into it:
“You know what? I did. Honestly I felt like the fight was going to be tougher. My trainer going into the fight told me that it was going to be the easiest fight that I’ve ever had in my entire career, and I looked at him like he was kidding. He told me, ‘Tim, I’m telling you when you get in there it’s going to be easier than you think it is’. Looking back at the fight, it wasn’t like lopsided like I destroyed him but it was relatively easy. I was able to walk him down and he really couldn’t do too much to me. I was able to apply the pressure all night and he couldn’t adjust, and that made it easy for me because I didn’t have to adjust. I just kept doing the same thing, just walk to him, just walk to him. Every time I got close to him I just had to make sure that I was really close before I swing so I didn’t leave myself out there to get hit with a counter, because Alexander has great counters. He has fast hands. It was just very easy. It was a very easy night. I wish it would have gone the distance because I was starting to turn it up. After the ninth I started hitting him a little bit more flush. In the tenth I started turning it up a little bit more. In the eleventh I was going to turn it up even more, and in the twelfth I was going to close the show. So I wish it would have went on, but it didn’t. He took the coward’s way out by crying and making excuses just like everybody else does and that’s the bottom line on that.”
On whether he believes he sees any weaknesses in Amir Khan’s game that he can exploit:
“They know my game plan. Freddie Roach knows me. He’s seen me fight a lot. My game plan is to take it to him, period. He’s one-dimensional. I’m going to take it to him. That’s my game plan guys, taking it to him. I saw a little bit of weakness in the Maidana fight. I saw some things that I can execute that I feel he can’t get away from because he still makes the same mistakes all the time. I’m sure they see weaknesses in my abilities and my craft too, but the thing is Amir can’t adjust. He can’t adjust. He cannot adjust. I mean he couldn’t even stop Maidana’s uppercut and Maidana kept landing it all night long, and he couldn’t even stop the uppercut! I’m way quicker. Obviously I don’t hit harder, but I hit hard. If I don’t hit hard then we didn’t Devon just stay there and exchange with me? If I can’t punch, why didn’t Devon stay there and exchange with me? He wouldn’t exchange with me! He would hit, move, and then he would hold. That was his game plan! I was like is that all you got dude? I mean seriously? In the first round I knew his game plan. I was like oh, okay! He’s going to tie me up every time I get close, and then he’s going to run, he’s going to pitter-pat, and then he’s going to move. I think Amir is going to bring a lot to the table. Like I said, he’s trained by Freddie Roach and Freddie Roach is a good strategist. Freddie Roach comes with a game plan and if Amir Khan can execute it then there is a possibility he can beat me, but the thing is he’s going to have his hands full!”
His response to the following comments made by Freddie Roach on the prior week’s edition of the show: “I actually think they need to build that fight up a little bit. I think maybe they need more exposure so I don’t know why you would rush into that fight”:
“ Oh man! That’s hilarious man! Freddie Roach, I’m serious! If Freddie Roach is going to try and stop this fight from happening, I’m not sure if he can! I’m not sure if he can, man! I mean Amir has to fight me! He has to fight me. Yeah, let’s build this fight a little more but how much bigger is it going to get? I don’t think it’s going to get any bigger than this. Who else is he going to fight out there? Is he going to fight Erik Morales or somebody after Morales gets beat down by Maidana? I mean I don’t know. He has to fight me, man!”
On whether he believes the fight between him and Khan actually will happen in July:
“The fight has to happen, man. It has to happen but I’ve always had a little bit of doubts that the fight wouldn’t happen. You know I put out in the press that I was going to fly over to England and see him fight McCloskey. I really thought about it, but I thought if we put too much pressure on him that he’s going to run away. So I don’t know if I should go or not. I think that Freddie Roach thinks that Amir’s not ready. I think Freddie Roach thinks that Amir can beat me, but just not right now. He’s not willing to take that risk.”
On whether he plans on making a more permanent jump to 147 if he can unify at 140:
“Absolutely! I will take care of business at 140 first. There are so many fights that I can fight at 140 pounds. I still want to get in the ring with Victor Ortiz. I still want to get in the ring with Marcos Maidana. There is Marquez if he wants to move up and face me at 140 pounds. Erik Morales has decided he’s trying to come back but I think he’s making a big mistake by fighting Marcos Maidana. I mean I eventually want to move up to 147 pounds. A lot of people want to see me and Andre Berto go at it. Andre Berto is a good friend of mine and everything, but business is business. I wouldn’t mind fighting him and fighting some of the top guys out there at 147 pounds. I think I can compete with them, definitely.”
His views on how he matches up against Marcos Maidana’s style:
“Marcos Maidana? I think Marcos Maidana brings a lot to the table through his heart and his will, but I think that with my boxing ability I’ll be able to move all night on him. Every now and then he’ll get close and I’ll have to tie him up and fight on the inside a little bit and fight in spurts a little bit, move around and use my angles. I mean I don’t think it would be an easy fight. I honestly don’t think it would be an easy fight. I think it would be a hard fight, but I think it’s a wonderful fight for me.”
His views on the fight between Marcos Maidana and Erik Morales:
“Man, you know a lot of people are saying that Erik Morales is going to beat this guy and a there is a lot of people saying that Erik Morales is making a huge mistake. I think Morales is making a big mistake. I think why is because Erik Morales has been away for a very long time. Yes he can box, but he’s up there in age now. Why did he retire in the first place? I think he retired because he was over the hill. Now he’s coming back and Marcos Maidana is a dangerous guy! He brings a lot of pressure. He’s hungry, he’s determined, and he doesn’t want to lose again! Amir Khan is a tough kid who can box and he couldn’t outbox this guy for twelve rounds, and he’s young! He’s 23 years old. He has faster hands, greater boxing ability, but he couldn’t outbox him for twelve rounds. You know Amir had to sit there and trade and take some punches. I don’t think Morales has the legs to go twelve really hard rounds like that.”
On whether he believes a win against Amir Khan can lead to an opportunity for him to land a fight with Manny Pacquiao:
“No. I don’t think so because I think if I beat Amir Khan I don’t think Freddie Roach will put Manny Pacquiao in the ring with me. That’s it right there. Freddie would rather take on Floyd Mayweather or take on somebody else and say I’m not big enough yet.”
On whether he believes Sugar Shane Mosley has a chance in his upcoming fight against Manny Pacquiao:
“Yeah, I think he does. I looked at it and said Shane was going to get blown out of the water and this and this. Then I really looked at Shane’s style and what he brings to the table. Regardless of age I’m looking at skill level. I think Shane is the bigger guy. He’s quick. He’s not faster than Manny don’t get me wrong, but I think that his skill level and his ability to survive, Shane is going to be tough to knockout, man. Shane doesn’t really get knocked out. Vernon Forrest put him on the canvas, but he didn’t knock him out you know, and Shane’s been fighting at this weight for a very long time. As far as skill-wise, speed, and just the smartness that Shane brings to the table I think is going to give Manny some problems. If Shane has good legs in this fight I think he’ll be alright, man. He can sit back and pot shot from the outside, and use, move his defense, and give Manny some problems.”
Regarding which fighters he has most admired and has tried to emulate style-wise:
“I was a huge Roy Jones fan, huge Roy Jones fan, and it probably doesn’t look like it in my fighting style. I changed a little bit since I became professional, but if you go back to my amateur background I kind of moved a lot and threw flurries, and moved and threw flurries. I would have to say Evander Holyfield. I was raised up watching him fight. You know he was a small guy, a small heavyweight, and he fought against these big giants and just the heart and the determination and the will this guy had, watching him fight just inspired me. So I would do a lot of things and want to be like Evander Holyfield in some way. I just loved that, I don’t know what you’d call it, that grit that grinding that Evander had. Like, ‘You hit me hard once, I’ll hit you hard twice!’ I love that! Another older fighter, I would say Hagler. I’m not a lefty. I don’t really switch a lot, but Hagler could fight righty or lefty and just with how aggressive he was and how he earned everything. You know a lot of people didn’t give him a lot of credit for what he did and that made him tough. He had this grit and grinding where he would just want to take someone out. That’s what I love. I love that tenacity. Cotto brings that tenacity to the table. We saw him get beat by Margarito or whatever, but he brings that to the table. I love Cotto’s style. He comes to fight. Any fighter out there that comes to fight I love to watch.”
Regarding criticisms he sometimes receives from people who accuse him of being a dirty fighter:
“Tell me one time where it looks like I’ve done it intentionally. Just show me where I’m doing something intentionally, like where I’m using my head as a tool. I mean you can’t. I’ve never been penalized or had a point taken. The ref is in the ring and he’s the closest man to us and he never penalized me, any ref! No one has done anything or taken a point from me because of something intentional. So that’s what I say to the fans out there. I’m not a dirty fighter. I fight, I fight aggressively, and I’m a short guy. I lean forward when I punch and these guys, they need to stop crouching down when I hurt their bodies. So that’s what I say to the fans. I don’t really have anything else to say about that.”
His vopinion on what Amir Khan’s strategy will be against him:
“I think Amir Khan’s strategy, what they’re going to do is try and land that uppercut, that right uppercut that he loves to use that he was landing on Maidana. He knows I’m going to be slipping and sliding, so I know Amir is going to be trying to land that jab and that right uppercut. I think his jab is going to be the key. Once I take that jab away from him then I just have to be careful with that right uppercut, because that’s a big shot! He loves to land it. He likes to step back and throw it, but I think that’s going to be his biggest disadvantage by throwing that shot, because he’s going to misjudge it one time and he’s going to get caught.”
On what he expects in a fight between him and Amir Khan:
“I think it’s going to be a hard tough fight. I think it’s going to be a split decision win and I think I’m going to be victorious in the end.”
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For those interested in listening to the Timothy Bradley interview in its entirety, it begins approximately seventeen minutes into the program.
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