Timothy Bradley

At 40 years old, Timothy Bradley has this physical status:

Timothy Ray Bradley Jr. (born August 29, 1983) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2016.

He has competed in two weight classes, including the WBC light welterweight title from 2009 to 2012, as well as the WBO welterweight championships from 2012 and 2016. According to The Ring magazine, Bradley was ranked as the third best active boxer, pound for pound.

He is best known for his three fights against Manny Pacquiao, whom he defeated in 2012, 2014, and 2016.

Personal life

Bradley was born in Palm Springs, California, on August 29, 1983, and he grew up in Cathedral City, California. He and future mixed martial artist and current UFC candidate Cub Swanson attended Cathedral City High School. Bradley served as both a dishwasher and as a waiter before becoming a professional boxer. Monica Manzo, a former high school classmate, married him in 2010 and became an adoptive father to Manzo's two children, totaling five children. In 2015, a Golden Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars recipient aspired him.

Since 2008, Bradley was on a vegan diet for his fights. He said he first tried the vegan diet while preparing for his match against Junior Witter. Witter was knocked down in 6th from overhand right in this bout, which Bradley won by a split vote. Bradley was proud of the outcomes and continued his diet after the war. When he was vegan, he felt better than any celebrity in the ring because it gave him energy, helped with his reflexes, and balance. This diet was stopped prior to the Jessie Vargas fight in 2015.

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Professional career

Bradley defeated Francisco Martinez in the second round of his first professional fight on August 20, 2004. He earned the WBC youth world welterweight and super lightweight championships in his ascension to the top of the standings. In addition, he defeated future IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez by a majority ten-round decision.

As José Luis Castillo failed to make weight in a title eliminator for the WBC super lightweight belt, Bradley had a chance to win a complete world title. He then lifted the WBC super lightweight title by defeating British fighter Junior Witter in Nottingham, England, on May 10, 2008. When Bradley made the decision to go to England to combat Junior Witter, his bank account was down to $11. Bradley was the underdog in the match against Witter, who lost 6–1. Bradley dominated the action for the majority of the game, but Witter was kicked out of his corner in the 6th round. Despite Bradley's close split verdict, most observers and analysts agree Bradley should have fairly been given a unanimous decision decision. Witter's one judge was awarded 115-112 by Witter, while Bradley's remaining two judges were rated 115-113 and 114-113 respectively.

Bradley fought Kendall Holt to unify his WBC and Holt's WBO titles on April 4, 2009. Bradley was knocked out by a massive left hook in the first round and was seriously wounded, but he recovered and outboxed Holt for the majority of the fight before being sent to the canvas again in the 12th round. However, Bradley stayed up and finished the game. He won the fight by unanimous consent and became the current WBO champion.

Bradley was kicked out of his WBC junior welterweight title after failing to face Devon Alexander, his mandated challenger, a few days after his unification match with Holt. As a result, the title became uncontested, and Alexander Witter defeated Witter at the end of eight rounds to win the belt.

The Alexander-Witter match took place in Bradley's undercard of his August 1 match against Nate Campbell in Palm Springs, Florida. Campbell, a former lightweight champion, was gaining weight after struggling to make the lightweight cut in his last fight. Bradley's match with Campbell was only three rounds long after Campbell's decision not to continue when a scar appeared above and behind his left eye. Bradley was given the TKO TKO victory, but the decision was later changed. The cut was caused by an accidental head clash, according to a replay. According to the law, if a fight is interrupted by an accidental headbutt before round four, it should be called a no contest. Since the California State Athletic Commission had changed the outcome, the state Athletic Commission modified the decision.

Lamont Peterson defeated French boxer Willy Blain in the vacant WBO Interim title in April 2009, making him mandatory to full titleholder Bradley. On December 12, 2009, a fight took place at A Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California. In the third round, Bradley defeated Peterson with an overhand right. However, Peterson woke up and landed hard left hooks to the body. In round 12, Peterson was cut under the left eye from an accidental headbutt. The judges ruled in favour of Bradley, 120-107, 119-108, and 118-110 for him, retaining his title and giving Peterson his first professional defeat. The match was shown live on Showtime Championship Boxing as a main event. "My game plan was to win the first round," Peterson said on Showtime, but I was really bad by a couple of right hands in the middle of the first round. It really bothered me. I lost the round because I was late, but I was reckless. I couldn't make it up. I gave it everything I could. He's a natural winner.

Bradley was due to face Luis Abregu in a non-title match at welterweight in his HBO Debut. Bradley's promoter told ESPN.com that he had signed an agreement with Golden Boy Promotions to combat Interim title holder and knockout artist Marcos "El Chino" Maidana, only a few miles from Bradley's hometown of Palm Springs, California. The brawl was supposed to take place on June 19, 2010 but it was postponed due to Maidana's back injury while training for the fight. As a result, the initial plan to gain weight was carried out, and the war against Abret was back on, with the Avignon casino scheduled for the Agua Caliente Casino and a set fight date of July 17, 2010. Bradley, although clearly out-sized, was too quick and too inexperience for the Abregu's victory by unanimous vote, with judges' scorecards 119–111, 118–113, and 117–113.

Bradley openly put a fight against pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, demanding that he "Come crack down this wall." Devon Alexander, Amir Khan, and Marcos Maidana were also called out by Bradley.

Timothy Bradley defended his WBO junior welterweight title in a unification match against fellow light welterweight champion Devon Alexander at the Silverdome Arena in Pontiac, Michigan, on January 29, 2011. Bradley gained the technical decision in the 10th round.

Bradley, whoever he chooses as his successor in his current fight, will receive a $1.3 million paycheck, as stipulated in the deal against Devon Alexander. Bradley opted not to participate in the fight, although the public wanted Bradley to face then WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and unify the division.

Timothy Bradley was stripped of his title if he refused to face then-World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan. Many had guessed that Bradley was not content with the $1.3 million to face a boxer of Amir Khan's caliber, but this was not Bradley's highest pay day in his entire career so far. "If I lose, I am out the sweepstake to face pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao for 7.5 million dollars," he said, insisting that it was too risky to defeat Amir Khan. Bradley's decision not to engage in combat culminated in his defeat and his promoter Gary Shaw's death. He was subsequently barred from the WBC due to inactivity.

Timothy Bradley joined Top Rank and made his WBO junior welterweight debut against former lightweight titlist Joel Casamayor, 40, on the undercard of Pacquiao vs. Marquez III. Bradley won by TKO in the eighth round of his appeal for a shot at Pacquiao.

Bradley defeated Manny Pacquiao for Pacquiao's WBO welterweight title on June 9, 2012. Bradley won a tumultuous victory over Pacquiao by a split decision, with two of the judges judging it 115–113 to Bradley and the other 115–113 to Pacquiao. Pacquiao's 7-year undefeated streak came to an end, with Bradley named honors. According to Compubox, Pacquiao was ahead of punches landed, power punches landed, a percentage of punches landed, the percentage of punches landed, and the percentage of power punches landed. As a result of the tumultuous scoring, World Boxing WBO President Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel appointed a special five-judge panel to investigate the conflict. Manny Pacquiao received a video of the fight, and all five judges voted in favour of him. Despite the panel's findings, WBO rules do not authorize the decision to be reversed. According to Valcarcel, the most the boxing body can do is to order a rematch.

Bradley won a close unanimous victory over Ruslan Provodnikov on March 16, 2013 in the WBO welterweight championship. Provodnikov was given the opportunity to fight Bradley, who was looking for a boost after a tumultuous brawl with Manny Pacquiao. Bradley came out early in the war, battling in an uncharacteristically aggressive manner. Provodnikov made him pay by hitting him with hard shots in the first round and then staggering him in the second round. Bradley said in the first round that he was struck by a shot Provodnikov struck him with in the first round. Bradley boxed more conservatively as the game progressed, winning the majority of the middle rounds. Provodnikov also injured Bradley in the last round and looked promising to give a KO, but with time running out Bradley deliberately took a knee to call a call. As a result, he was able to beat the clock (which lasted just seconds before the final bell) and carried on to win the fight on points. Bradley was captivated by Provodnikov's tenacity, and he added, "He's going to be a world champion someday."

Bradley's battle with Ring #3 ranked pound for pound, Ring #5 ranked junior lightweight and WBO junior welterweight champion Juan Manuel Márquez was held on October 12, 2013 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Bradley won by split decision with scorecards of 116–112, 113–113, and 113–115.

On April 12, 2014, Bradley fought Manny Pacquiao. According to several analysts, the second confrontation was closer than the first one. Pacquiao's second half of the game was decided unanimously (118–110, 112, 112, 112), snapping Bradley's undefeated streak.

Bradley was defeated by Manny Pacquiao in a former WBA welterweight interim champion Diego Chaves of Argentina in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 13, 2014. The official scorecards revealed a tumultuous split-draw (Julie Lederman 112–114 for Chaves, Burt A. Clements 115–113 for Bradley, and Craig Metcalfe 114–114 for an even). As they reported he had connected with 225 of 572 punches against the 152 of 570 blows Chaves connected with, Harold Lederman, HBO's unofficial judge, had it 116–112 for Bradley and the Compubox results highly favored a Bradley victory.

Bradley fought and defeated undefeated boxer Jessie Vargas on HBO World Championship Boxing on June 27, 2015 to capture the WBO World Championship Boxing Championships. He was voted unanimously to win the war.

Floyd Mayweather, the WBO's best-known middleweight champion, was stripped of his title after failing to pay a $200,000 penalty fee for his bout with Manny Pacquiao and for not defending his world titles in the Junior Middleweight division at a time. Bradley, thereby, was promoted to the full WBO welterweight champion.

Bradley would make his WBO debut against 29-year-old former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rapos (33-2-1, 24 KOs) on Friday at the newly renovated Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, according to ESPN on September 8, 2015. Bradley was also featured on the last card to be held at the Thomas & Mack Center on October 12, 2013. Negotiations were on and off for the war, and almost stopped completely in August. The WBO said they would not sanction the match until Top Rank reached an agreement with Ali's promoter Golden Boy to negotiate a step-aside fee, owing to Sadam Ali's compulsoryity.

Bradley fought and defeated former Lightweight champion Gary Jones to keep the WBO World Best Weight Championship. Teddy Atlas, his current coach and television analyst, was able to prepare him. Bradley won the match by a technical knockout in Round 9 at 2:48, dropping Ros down with a body shot and following it up with a barrage of punches, causing Ros to be shot again and prompting referee Tony Weeks to call off the contest.

Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs), according to Bob Arum's blog, will face Bradley for the third time in what will be Manny Pacquiao's last professional fight. The fight was scheduled at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 9, 2016. Pacquiao will make $20 million and Bradley will get $4 million from the fight, according to the news. Pacquiao knocked Bradley down twice and outpointed him throughout the contest, winning by unanimous decision after all three judges scored the match 116-110 in his favour. Pacquiao won 117-109, according to ESPN.com, who also favored Pacquiao. In round seven and then again in round nine, Bradley was defeated once more. "Manny was very strong in there," Bradley said in a newspaper fight about how patience was the primary difference in the war. A lot of punches were delivered by a hefty punch. He was also very patient. "I wasn't patient enough to wait myself, so I walked into shots." According to CompuBox results, Pacquiao received 122 of 439 punches (28%), while Bradley hit 99 of his 302 punches (33%). Many experts, including both experts, called the rubber fight the best of their trilogy. The competition attracted 400,000 viewers on HBO PPV, earning $24 million. This was considered a low number considering that the main event's purses alone equalled $24 million. Pacquiao was given a special version of the coveted WBO International title in honor of his success.

Bradley announced his resignation on July 27, 2017. In a tweet referring to his fight against Ruslan Provodnikov, he said, "I was still affected by the violence that had been done a few weeks after the war." My speech was a little bit off. A little bit, I was slurring a little bit. However, after about two months, I'm cleared up and now have my wits about me. In August 6, 2017, he announced his retirement from professional boxing after almost 12 years in the business. He revealed the following on his Instagram page: he made the announcement when he posted the following:

With 13 knockouts in his career, he posted a record of 33 victories, 2 losses, and 1 draw.

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