Bradley wants to fight all the big names in boxing after Abregu bout

By Boxing News - 06/15/2010 - Comments

By Eric Thomas: Provided that he gets by unbeaten welterweight contender on July 17th, WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO’s) says he wants to fight the big stars in the boxing world. Bradley, 26, is obviously referring to Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Berto and Miguel Cotto. Also likely lumped in with those fighters are light welterweights like Devon Alexander and Amir Khan. However, the real big money fights for Bradley would be Pacquiao, Mayweather or Cotto. Those are the fights that Bradley needs if he wants to make a name for himself in the sport.

However, Bradley has a difficult task in front of him in trying to beat the hard hitting Abregu in July. Abregu, 5’10”, is four inches taller than the 5’6” Bradley and has a three inches reach advantage and a consider advantage in power as well. Bradley has been doing a good job of beating fighters that are pretty much the same height as him, but in facing Abregu, Bradley is going to be facing a fighter that is a lot bigger and stronger than him. Abregu has looked vulnerable in fights against David Estrada and Richard Gutierrez, but in the end his power has been enough for him to come out on top.

Bradley has got to stay out of the way of Abregu’s shots. Bradley can’t stand in close and try to slug it out with Abregu like he’s done with most of his opponents during his six year pro career. Abregu likes when his opponents are directly in front of him and might do well if Bradley elects to try and punch with him instead of move around and pick his spots carefully. As if to give what his strategy will be against Abregu, in an article at Mydesert.com, Bradley says “He’s [Abregu] a big puncher, but he can’t hit what’s not there. He’s going to have a tough night. He’s going to see a big difference from the opponents he’s faced. I want to fight the big names in the game. I feel I should get my just due sooner or later. But I will try to keep winning. As long as I continue to win, the big fights will happen sooner or later.”

Bradley is probably right, but at the same time, he might not ever get a chance at fighting Mayweather or Pacquiao, though. Pacquiao is a fight or two away from retirement and won’t be looking to fight an up and coming star like Bradley. And Mayweather is more interested in fighting stars and it could take Bradley several years before he’s a big enough star for Mayweather to fight.

Bradley could get a lot of help in becoming a star in a hurry of fighters like Khan, Berto and Cotto would fight him. But that’s probably not going to be happening anytime soon either. Bradley is fighting Abregu at welterweight in order to position himself at welterweight for some of the big fights in that class. However, at 5’6” and with little power, Bradley would likely be overmatched if he were to fight guys like Berto and Cotto.

It would be asking a lot for Bradley to be able to compete with those fighters when he struggled with the power of Kendall Holt, who knocked Bradley down twice in their fight last year in April. Bradley won the bout by a 12 round decision but he looked vulnerable to the power of Holt. In looking at the fight, you have to wonder if Holt can do that to Bradley, what can guys like Abregu, Berto and Cotto do to him. I’m not even mentioning Pacquiao and Mayweather, because I think both of those fighters are far too talented for Bradley at this point.



Comments are closed.