Thursday, April 25, 2024  |

News

Tim Bradley ‘ready to fight Manny Pacquiao again’

Fighters Network
25
Jan

pacquiao vs bradley_5

 

WBO welterweight titleholder Timothy Bradley said Saturday that he has both agreed to a rematch with Manny Pacquiao on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and has signed a contract extension with promoter Top Rank.

Bradley and his wife, Monica, negotiated with Top President Todd duBoef, while Pacquiao agreed to terms through talks with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum.



"It feels great to finally have this done. Pacquiao has agreed to all of his terms, and I've agreed to all of my terms, as well. As far as the extension goes, as well, Top Rank definitely has taken care of me, and I'm happy with all of the terms, and we've made the agreement," said Bradley, a 30-year-old father of four.

"They gave me everything I asked for. I'm not going to get this kind of a deal anywhere else. I'm satisfied and ready to move forward with my career and to fight Manny Pacquiao again."

Arum said Pacquiao will earn a guaranteed $20 million, down from the $26 he earned when he lost a controversial decision to Bradley in 2012. Bradley will receive $6 million, $1 million more than in their first meeting. The fighters also agreed to random drug testing to be executed by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.

"It was very fair negotiation," duBoef said. "I handled the Bradley side, Bob handled the Pacquiao side. It was perfect. There were conversations from the beginning. There was news out there, and I can't say that people were making an issue out of it, but they wanted to secure certain things for their future, and we wanted to discuss certain things that were requirements for the fight.

"I heard their needs, they heard my needs, and we were able to structure something together that accommodated everybody."

Press conferences to promote the fight are scheduled for Feb. 4 and 6 in Los Angeles and New York, respectively.

Arum addressed reports that Bradley appeared to be balking at the a contract extension and, thus, the fight.

"That was never an issue," he said. "The issues were the terms of the extension, and the details of the extension, and they were not issues that were divisive issues. They were issues which had to be agreed upon by all parties, and they were, such as the minimums and all of that sort of stuff.

"But there was never any debate or any argument or anything involving pressures about extending the contract. Bradley, from the get-go, said that Top Rank had done great things for him, and that he had earned fantastic amounts of money with Top Rank. He wanted to continue for the foreseeable balance of his career to work with Top Rank."

Bradley also confirmed that he is no longer working with manager Cameron Dunkin.  Bradley hired Dunkin shortly before earning what was then a career-high $345,000 for his December 2009 victory over previously unbeaten Lamont Peterson,

"There's really nothing to address with Cameron Dunkin. I've fulfilled my terms, and he fulfilled his terms. That was it. Our contract expired," said Bradley.

"I can't say anything bad about Cameron. He was a great manager, and he did a lot for me, and I thank him for that, and that's pretty much it. I'm moving forward with my career."

Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 knockouts), who turned 35 in December, rebounded from the setback against Bradley and a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez by easily outpointing Brandon Rios in November.

In his last two fights, Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs) took considerable punishment but outpointed Ruslan Provodnikov in March of last year before earning a split-decision over Marquez in October.

"I think that since the first Pacquiao fight, Tim Bradley has been involved in fights that had him acclaimed as the Fight of The Year with Prodinikov. That shows that he can be an exciting fighter. And then he had the brilliant victory over Marquez," said Arum. 

"So I think that it's clear that Bradley is even more of an attraction than he was then. I think that it will be a really good fight, and there will be a lot of speculation about the fight, and that will help to develop and spark interest. Bradley is a much more experienced fighter now than he was when he first fought Manny. I think that this will be a fascinating battle."

Bradley edged Pacquiao by scores of 115-113 on the cards of official judges C.J. Ross and Duane Ford, while Jerry Roth had the same score for Pacquiao. An informal poll of 51 writers favored Pacquiao over Bradley, 48-3.

Bradley reportedly fractured his left foot and sprained his right foot in the first bout.

"My thoughts going into this fight is that I really know Pacquiao now. I have been in the ring with him, so it won't be anything new. I know what I have to do," said Bradley.

SIGN UP TO GET RING NEWS ALERTS