By Robert “Big Moe” Elmore: Floyd Mayweather Jr. said he would never do business with Top Rank and Manny Pacquiao would have to leave in order for the fight to happen. Most said Floyd was using the demand to avoid the fight. It’s not so silly now as it has become very apparent who is holding the fight up. Enter Timothy Bradley. Let’s make the obvious clear. Timothy Bradley is not named Mayweather. He has no hatred toward Top Rank. He didn’t bad mouth any one. There was no mudslinging even after the decision, and ridicule received from the public and his own promoter Bob Arum after his win over Pacquiao (which was not his fault, but was the victim of the judge’s decision). He stayed silent and continued to fight. There were rumors floating that Bradley was to be free agent this year although it unclear if he had one fight left on the contract. Those rumors were confirmed by Bradley himself on Fighthype.com. Let the journey begin.

Bradley came to a huge fork in the road. Bradley was one step from being a free agent and possibly aligning himself with a big money fight with Mayweather and possibly other welterweights that Golden has to offer. He could have fought one more time (if the top rank contract stipulated he had one fight left) and left Manny to pursue other prospects. Deep down he wanted to prove to the world that he can beat Manny convincingly. But there was one problem. He had to SIGN A MULTI-FIGHT EXTENTION to get the Pacquiao fight. So in laymen terms; no contract extension; no fight. How come Bradley couldn’t just fight Manny and walk away? Why the contract extension? And this isn’t even a fighter trying to break his contract with another promoter to get a fight with Pac. Nope. Just a roll of the dice Bradley was at Pacquiao’s Park Place. Didn’t go pass Go or collect two hundred dollars. So how is this any different than Floyd telling Pacquiao to leave Bob Arum so the fight can happen?

Bradley is not a popular fighter. But for a brief moment in time, he held the keys that could either shut down or reopen Pacland. There is no other fighter on Top Rank that will bring Pacquiao decent pay per view numbers and pay day. Let’s face it. Bradley was bit by the money bug and wants to build on what he made. Not go backwards. He made 5 million in his first fight with Pacquiao and 4.1 million against Juan Manuel Marquez. That’s not that bad of a drop off. And now he’s going up to 6 million. From an opponent standpoint, where does he go should he get pass Pac? Top Rank is very thin at welterweight. Sure, Bradley probably could have signed to Golden Boy and the possible fights would have jumped off the charts at him. Think of it…Floyd/Bradley; Bradley/ Adrien Broner; Bradley/ Keith Thurman; Bradley/ Paulie Malignaggi; a possible rematch with Lamont Peterson; Bradley/ Marcos Maidana, and why not..Bradley/Canelo.

But Bradley would not be the draw in those fights and the money he seeks probably wouldn’t be enough to make such a move. At Top Rank, he’s can position himself to be the cash cow to where he can make the demands. As I stated, Top Rank is very thin at 147 with Pacquiao and Marquez on their way out. But let’s say he went to Golden Boy and ran through some of those big names. He could then command that kind of cash he’s getting. But let’s not get it twisted, Bradley having to sign an extension clearly shows who is holding up the Floyd/Manny fight. It’s unclear how many fights are included in the deal. But if it extends past next year, he can forget about trying to get a fight with Floyd. I’m open to discuss how this is any different than what Floyd said and what Bradley had to do to fight Pacquiao.