Can Arum turn Timothy Bradley into the next Pacquiao?

By Boxing News - 05/30/2011 - Comments

Image: Can Arum turn Timothy Bradley into the next Pacquiao?By Chris Williams: It’s no secret that WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (27-0, 11 KO’s) is waiting for his contract to run out with his current promoter before he takes on WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan. It’s also no secret that Bradley will likely sign with Top Rank Promotions as soon as his contract expires, giving him an almost guaranteed chance of fight Manny Pacquiao in 2012.

Bob Arum of Top Rank really admires Bradley and thinks he can become a big star in the sport. But is that really possible? Can Bradley become the next big Top Rank star in the mold of Pacquiao? I really don’t think so. I don’t think it matters who Bradley fights for. His style of fighting is nothing like Pacquiao, as he tends to lead with his head when he’s coming forward, resulting in head butts.

Bradley also doesn’t have a lot of power speak of, although he does have fast hands. I don’t think that even in facing Pacquiao and getting destroyed that Bradley will become a huge star. I think Bradley will be just thought of as just another Pacquiao victim. Hopefully, Bradley does a better job against Pacquiao than Shane Mosley, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto did in the past two years.

I doubt he will, though. But I think Arum’s midas touch isn’t going to work in turning Bradley into a big pay per view star that the boxing public will gladly pay $55 to see. I’m sure Bradley’s are going to be shown on PPV as part of a package along with a ton of other fighters, but I can’t see Bradley becoming a main event type guy on a PPV card unless he’s matched against someone like Pacquiao.

I’d hate to see how many buys a Bradley vs. Amir Khan would get in the U.S if they don’t put Pacquiao on the card. It would be terrible to see how few buys a Khan-Bradley fight would generate. I just don’t see Bradley turning out to be a big star even if he fights Khan, Pacquiao, Zab Judah or all of the other top fighters in the light welterweight division. I could be wrong but I don’t think I am. Pacquiao is a different kind of guy with a set of skills that Bradley doesn’t have.



Comments are closed.