Why Tim Bradley won’t Be wiewed an “elite” fighter anytime soon

By Neil Jason Blake - 04/24/2013 - Comments

bradley14By Miguel Alejandro Lopez: After living through a dark time of his career following a controversial win over Manny Pacquiao, WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (30-0) is now riding through imminent stardom after reportedly securing a fight agreement with Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez. The details are not yet official, but the two Pacquiao conquerors are expected to battle it out in the Thomas and Mack arena sometime in September 2013.

While it looks like Timothy Bradley is shaping up to become the next pound for pound king, Bradley may not be able to receive the recognition and respect that he wants anytime soon. Here’s why:

Bradley lacks the kind of decisive wins that catapults people to stardom. For example, if you look at superstars like Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao, or some old time greats like George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, you will see that their illustrious careers can be traced back to some dramatic, convincing wins. With Mayweather, it was the Gatti and Corrales fights (and victories) that made him enter the big leagues and drew people’s attention. Pacquiao, meanwhile, had the Morales trilogy, the wars with Marquez and Barrera, and the coasting wins over the big guys in the welterweight division.

Timothy Bradley, on the other hand, still lacks the quality of an all-time great because of the simple fact that he never truly beat another all time great in a convincing fashion. The best legitimate victory that Tim had in recent memory was against a washed up Joel Casamayor. After that, his “win” against Pacquiao never proved any sensational ability on his part, only sensational luck. His win over Provodnikov showed he can survive in the ring, but considering that Ruslan is just an unknown fighter in the B class, it goes on to say that Bradley belongs in that category of fighters as well.

The next big factor why people will never “learn” to buy Timothy Bradley tickets and boxing PPVs is because Tim likes to talk a lot about himself, and he talks smack about other boxing greats. In effect, the general perception about him is that he is a wannabe who doesn’t belong in his current place. He does not possess the charisma and star quality that can be seen in Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran, Oscar Dela Hoya (in his prime) and many other boxing greats.

Now that Bradley rejected a rematch against Pacquiao, it seems that he is unlikely to vindicate himself from the stigma that he once suffered in the boxing community. By not finishing the Pacquiao story (and beating him convincingly), Bradley is now leaving a lot of doubt in the minds of boxing fans. People will never forget how he was gifted a bad decision. History will never forget that an undeserving champ once trampled upon an eight division world champion’s honor.



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