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TIMOTHY BRADLEY: "I'M HUNGRY TO GET BACK IN THERE...I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE 12TH"

By Percy Crawford | November 08, 2011
TIMOTHY BRADLEY:

"I'm hungry to get back in there. I miss being in the light, man. I miss fighting, man, and I can't wait for the 12th to get it on and get that feeling back...I'm excited to get back in there. The first couple of rounds might be a little bit awkward, but after that, it's like I'm going to be at home. I know the ring inside and out and I'm going to take care of business...I have never been in the ring with anybody physically stronger than me, especially at 140 pounds. Casamayor is used to 135 and he's moving up to 140. He has never felt anybody as strong as me...I'm on one of the biggest cards, if not the biggest card, this year as the co-main event. A lot of Manny Pacquiao fans and hardcore fans, they pretty much know me, but general people that don't really watch boxing but when a big fight come on, they watch it, they gonna see who Timothy Bradley is. It is a great opportunity to showcase my talent," stated jr. welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, who talked about his upcoming clash this Saturday with former champion Joel Casamayor on the undercard of Pacquiao vs. Marquez III. You don't want to miss what he had to say about the fight, his eagerness to get back into the ring after the lengthy layoff, his future plans and much more. Check it out!

PC: It has been a long time since you have been in that squared circle my man. How do you feel going into this fight against Joel Casamayor?

TB: (Laughing) Ah man, I'm hungry, man. I'm hungry to get back in there. I miss being in the light, man. I miss fighting, man, and I can't wait for the 12th to get it on and get that feeling back. I don't really know how I'm gonna be in there. I know I'm ready. I've been training extremely hard, but, you know, you kinda lose the feeling being away from the ring for a while. I don't know what to expect. I'm gonna do really well out there though, man, because I have been working really hard.

PC: I gotta say, I think you are the first fighter coming off of a layoff to admit you don't really know what to expect and admit that you don't know how you are going to be.

TB: Nah, you know what? It's different in the gym and in the fight. I'm more of a fight type of guy, you know what I mean? In the gym and stuff, sparring partners be hitting me and banging me up and stuff like that, but once I get to the fight, I put it all together. It's just getting in there, man, with no headgear and smaller gloves and stuff like that (laughing). It's been a while, man. It feels like it's going to be my first fight. It's crazy to me, but I'm excited to get back in there. The first couple of rounds might be a little bit awkward, but after that, it's like I'm going to be at home. I know the ring inside and out and I'm going to take care of business.

PC: It's usually a danger zone to see a guy not be active and then come back with a tough veteran, but you pride yourself on staying in shape. Physically, how have you been keeping your body up?

TB: Physically, I have been keeping my body up. I have been strength and conditioning since February. A couple of days I had been going to the boxing gym, like 2 days a week, and then strength and conditioning 3 days a week. I've been active, man. I have been on the track every Thursday doing sprints and running and things like that. I was on that track (laughing) every Thursday, man, and I hated track days. We did 3 hours on the track and it was strenuous work. After I got done with all of those exercises, then I would have to do sprints and stuff like that, so.

PC: And was that with your pops or...

TB: (Cutting in) I have a strength and conditioning trainer. My dad has always conditioned me, but I hired some outside help to help me with the little things. I'm naturally strong. My dad built that since I was a kid, but I wanted to be a little bit more limber and a little more flexible for speed and hand speed. I needed the whole package, and to be explosive as well, so I hired a strength trainer. His name is James Roughly and he is on me constantly, man. Everything is for time and if I'm not hitting my times, then he's going to throw out some questions like, "What are you doing?" But I'm ready to go. Conditioning-wise, I couldn't be in any better shape than I am. If I work hard for this next week, I'm basically just honing my body, so conditioning-wise, I'm good and mentally, I'm ready for this stage in my career and spiritually, I'm always ready, so bring it. Bring it! I want the best Casamayor that can possibly come and I think he will come that night because this is a golden opportunity for him to knock me off, elevate himself on the throne, man, and win another world championship at 140 before he goes out. So this fight is really serious and it's a dangerous fight.

PC: Will this be your last fight at 140 pounds?

TB: You know what? This is not my last fight at 140. There a lot of other great fights for me at 140. If something occurred that was worth going up to 147, then I definitely would go up. There is always that option. Am I getting a little bit bigger? Yeah, I am. Is 140 getting a little bit tougher to make? Yeah, it is. It's getting a little bit tougher to make. I'm not gonna lie; I'm going to be honest, but I'll do what I have to do to get there and make the weight. But if a good fight was on the table at 147, I would definitely go up for that.

PC: You have faced a few different styles of southpaws in your career and we know what Casamayor bring to the table. He can be a slick boxer or a rough inside fighter. What type of fight are you expecting from him?

TB: I'm expecting the best Casamayor. This is a golden opportunity for him. I'm a young guy, so I think he is definitely going to try and lure me in and use his tricks of the trade against me to make it an ugly fight and a hard fight for me. I'm thinking he may mix it up. I think he may come forward. I think he may box and show a little bit of it all because he can pretty much do it all. But the thing that I feel he doesn't have is the gas tank. He doesn't have the gas tank that I have, and that's the major key in the fight for me. He's 40 years old, he has been in some wars, and he has a lot of wear and tear on his body. I'm younger, I'm 28. I'm smart. I'm not a stupid fighter. I'm very smart in the ring. I'm quick and I have great hand speed and footwork. I can fight inside and outside, so I mean, he's going to have trouble with me as well. I don't think he's going to be able to isolate me the way he has done other fighters because, like I said, I'm a smart fighter, and like I said, I feel my gas tank is just too good. Well, it better be. It better be because if not, we got problems (laughing). If not, I need to go ahead and hang up the gloves. But I know for a fact I'm going to be able to go 12 hard rounds at a pace that he can't hang with.

PC: And another quality that you have that you left out is, and I think you are very underrated for it, but you make great in-ring adjustments. You displayed that in both the Holt fight and your fight against Alexander.

TB: Right! Yeah, yeah, yeah! That right there, you said it all in a few words. I may not look flashy and I may not look like I'm the best thing you have ever seen before, but I will tell you this, Bradley always comes to win and he always finds a way to win. Another fighter that I really admire that I think does the same thing that I do is Andre Ward. He always finds a way to win, and that's me too. I can make adjustments. My coach ain't gotta tell me to make adjustments. If something is working, I'm going to keep on going to the well until it stops working and then I'm going to change up and I'm going to go back to it because eventually, it's going to be open again. I can definitely make adjustments in there; I can definitely make it rough on the inside. I'm strong, man. I have never been in the ring with anybody physically stronger than me, especially at 140 pounds. Casamayor is used to 135 and he's moving up to 140. He has never felt anybody as strong as me. Devon felt the strength and that's why after he fought me, he went and got a strength and conditioning trainer because he was like, "I have never felt anybody that strong before at 140." So you know, I think Casamayor will feel my strength and like I always say, I can't wait to get in there and feel his body. It ain't no homo stuff. I just want to get in there and feel him; feel how hard he punches, see what everybody is talking about, his cleverness, feel his body weight on mine, and from the 1st round, I will be able to tell if it is going to be a tough night or if it's going to be an easy night.

PC: How disappointing has it been to come off of one of the most anticipated fights at 140 pounds against Alexander, win that fight, and then have to sit, and how grateful are you to have this moment on the big stage in a new situation?

TB: Well, you know, it's like the old saying, what goes up must come down and what comes down must go up. It's like the stock market, up and down, up and down. That's just life, man. That's life in general. You go through trials and tribulations and only the strong survive. It was tough, at times, but I stayed close to my family. My newborn definitely eased the pressure, plus added more pressure because now I gotta take care of this baby. I gotta take care of my daughter and my family, but through those times, like I said, I stayed close to my family. I stayed around positive people and followed the teachings of my mother and father, and believing in God and myself, and definitely believing in Team Bradley and my manager Cameron Dunkin and that he was going to do the right thing and he was going to get the job done. And at the end of the day, I was getting bashed through the media and they were talking about me, and Khan was talking about my manhood. Everybody was bashing me in the media, but I held it together and now look where we're at now. We did a great thing and we did a positive thing for my career, signing with Top Rank. Top Rank has had some of the best fighters in the world, if not the best fighters in the world, and made them superstars, and this decision was based on my career and where I want to go and where I want to be and what I want to be. So I thought it was a great move and I'm on one of the biggest cards, if not the biggest card, this year as the co-main event. A lot of Manny Pacquiao fans and hardcore fans, they pretty much know me, but general people that don't really watch boxing but when a big fight come on, they watch it, they gonna see who Timothy Bradley is. It is a great opportunity to showcase my talent and they will say, "Hey, this Timothy guy is pretty good and I wanna see him fight again. I want to see him against this guy." So it's a different scale of fighting. I have never been on this stage before, but like I always say, if I can go over to England in Junior Witter's backyard in front of 8,000 fans of his and get booed and cussed out and be told I'm going to be knocked out on his turf and bring back a championship, I can do anything.

PC: I was going to ask you that. You will have a lot of eyes on you that have never seen you fight. I know what to expect from Timothy Bradley, but what can those new eyes expect from Timothy Bradley?

TB: They definitely can expect someone very skillful and determined. I come to fight every fight. It's never a boring, chillaxed fight. I like to bring it and win every single round and dominate my opponent. I haven't lost a lot of rounds in boxing, man. I haven't lost a lot of rounds in my professional career and I want to continue to do that and give it everything that I have in each and every round. They are going to see great defense, great footwork, speed and power, and like I said, I'm just determined. It's different when you see me fight as opposed to someone else because when you look in my eyes, I'm serious and I am 100% focused on my opponent and I'm looking to get the job done. So that's what the fans can expect; me to put my life on the line, put on the best show that I possibly can, and for me to be smart out there and to be a technician and take care of business, man. I would definitely love a knockout in this fight. I would love to be the second guy to stop this guy because he is very crafty, but if I'm able to do that, I made a statement to the boxing world. Granted, he is 40 years old and when Marquez knocked him out, he was 38, but he was putting up a heck of a fight against Marquez. Marquez is very technical and I watched that fight and I said, "Wow, this guy can fight. Marquez is a great counter puncher and he was having trouble with this guy." So I know what to expect now. I gotta stay poised and the fight will develop the way I want it to. I'm going to make those adjustments, man. That's what fight fans can expect, man.

PC: Before I let you go, do you have any prediction for the main event?       

TB: I think it might be a late round stoppage. I think it might be 8 or 9. I think Manny might be too strong for Marquez. The weight is a factor. I am a firm believer in that. The weight is a factor. Manny has grown into 147 pounds. Even though he weighs in at 145 or 146, he's still naturally bigger than Marquez. Marquez is pumping iron and taking protein bars and shakes and all of that stuff to gain that weight, but he really hasn't filled into his body yet. That's water weight, you know what I mean? I think speed will be a factor and in 8, maybe 9, Pacquiao is gonna definitely try to take this guy out of there. I'm a big Marquez fan too, but I think Pacquiao is just too strong right now.

PC: I appreciate your time. It's good to have you back in the ring and best of luck to you.

TB: I appreciate it bro.



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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