ESPN Re-Signs Timothy Bradley as Ringside Analyst

By Boxing News - 01/27/2021 - Comments

Boxing great and future Hall of Famer Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley Jr., a former two-division world titleholder, has agreed to a new contract extension with ESPN, it was announced today. Bradley joined ESPN in 2016.

Under the agreement, Bradley will continue to serve as boxing analyst for Top Rank on ESPN and appear on a variety of ESPN platforms including ESPN+. He will also continue to work alongside ESPN’s best-in-class boxing announce team, including Mark Kriegel, Bernardo Osuna, Joe Tessitore and Andre Ward, on pre- and post-shows and ringside contributions.

“We are thrilled to have Tim continuing his role with Top Rank on ESPN. His expertise, knowledge and passion for the sport makes him an incredible part of our Top Rank on ESPN team,” said Mark Gross, ESPN senior vice president, production and remote events.

“Last June, boxing was the first live event production back on our air following the pause in sports caused by COVID-19.

As we entered unchartered territory in live production, Tim was able to quickly adjust to a “new normal” and showed a deep level of range and versatility as an analyst, first by working remotely from home studios and later by covering the sport from the Top Rank bubble in Las Vegas.”

“I am extremely blessed and thankful toward ESPN and Top Rank boxing for placing their faith in me,” said Bradley. “I look forward to continuing our legacy as the staple of boxing alongside the entire ESPN and Top Rank family, from those of us on screen to those behind the scenes. I will continue to make sure that the fans get the real.”

Bradley joined ESPN as a guest analyst prior to his retirement from professional boxing in 2016. He has since called some of the highest rated fights of 2020, along with some of biggest recent fights in the sport, including Pacquiao vs. Horn (November 2017), Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux (December 2017), Crawford vs. Benavidez, (October 2018), Linares vs. Lomachenko (May 2019), Wilder vs. Fury II (February 2020) and Lomachenko vs. Lopez (December 2020).

Bradley held three world championships in two divisions (WBC light welterweight, WBO light welterweight and WBO welterweight). He retired in 2017, finishing his career with a record of 33-2-1, with 13 of his victories by way of knockouts. He won his first world title fight, light welterweight, in 2008 when he upset champion Junior Witter in England.

From Palm Springs, Calif., Bradley began training as a professional boxer in his late teens. In 2004, at the age of 20—just nine days shy of his 21st birthday—Bradley fought Francisco Martinez in his first professional fight, which he won in the second round by knockout.