Timothy Bradley backed up his words and knocked off legendary Mexican fighter Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday, possibly opening the door for the big-money fights he craves.
Following his win against Marquez, Bradley proclaimed, "That win was my ticket to the Boxing Hall of Fame," Bradley said. "I beat a great champion. It feels amazing. I feel great. I knew that this was my moment and I told everyone that would listen."
Bradley's trainer Joel Diaz said after the win, "I told you no one can beat Tim if he boxes the way he should, and he didn't have a mark on his face. Marquez never touched him. No one can outbox Tim Bradley. I told him, 'Don't get reckless.'"
As is somewhat typical of Marquez after close, hard-fought losses, he believed the judges got the score wrong. His main bone of contention? Marquez had the edge in power punches landed. "We came to win and we did, but the judges saw something else," said Marquez. "We won. I'm very happy with the fight we put out. We came to do our job and get a win. You don't necessarily have to win by knockout. We did our job. You can't win all fights by knockout. We did what was necessary to win."
An angered Marquez said this fight may have been his last, with "six robberies" on his ledger. While "Dinamita" considers hanging up the gloves, Bradley is plotting a grand conquest of the sport.
"I'm going to sit down and talk with my team and we're going to set up a plan," said Bradley, who earned $4.1 million to battle Marquez.. "I want to fight nothing but the best. I have to be considered top three in the world now."
As a top-three fighter in the world, Bradley vs. Manny Pacquiao, assuming Pacquiao is able to win against Brandon Rios in November, seems like the likely match to make. While Bradley's already beaten Pacquiao, the win was highly controversial and a rematch has an excellent marketing peg.
Bradley may cite his win, though, and push instead to take on Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd is rumored to have selected Amir Khan already as his next opponent, but nothing's been finalized with the British boxer.
"There is Floyd Mayweather, there is Andre Ward and there is Tim Bradley," the victorious "Desert Storm" said. Perhaps The Money Team will take notice.
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