Timothy Bradley is slated to take on Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez on October 12th in a bout between the last two men to have defeated Manny Pacquiao. Bradley, though, already seems to have his sights set on a bigger prize--Floyd Mayweather Jr.
There's been a lot of speculation about a potential rematch between Pacquiao and Bradley if the former wins his fight against Brandon Rios in November, and the latter is victorious Saturday night. If Bradley's impressive, however, his name could be tossed into the Mayweather sweepstakes at some point.
"You know what? I like both fights," Bradley said. "I don't like to think ahead but let's say, hypothetically, I beat Marquez. I would love to get a shot at Mayweather before he gets out the game."
Bradley's never been much of a draw, however, and most boxing fans likely would prefer to see him settle the score with Pacquiao before taking on "Money." Bradley won a split decision over Pacman in June of 2012 that was hotly disputed by fans around the world, and even by Richard Schaefer, who promotes both pugilists.
The win for Bradley was supposed to be a boon for his career, but instead backlash launched him into a depression. He finally emerged from it but could only land a fight with a hard-punching unknown named Ruslan Provodnikov. Bradley chose to war with Provodnikov, even though he could have easily outboxed him, and nearly lost the fight. He was badly hurt several times, and also knocked down.
He earned the respect back of boxing fans in that warrior-like effort, and was offered a rematch with Manny, turning it down for Marquez instead.
"I have always been more interested in looking for new challenges than in doing what has been expected. Though I was offered a rematch with Manny Pacquiao in Macau, the opportunity to fight another legend of my era -- Juan Manuel Marquez -- had far more appeal to me for several reasons," Bradley said.
"Marquez is a boxing legend and a Mexican icon. He is coming off a career-best victory over his professional nemesis Manny Pacquiao. I am coming off my two career-best victories -- over Pacquiao and Ruslan Provodnikov. It just made sense for me to fight Marquez next. Bradley vs. Marquez -- a battle between the only two fighters to have beaten Manny Pacquiao in the past seven years. It got me excited as a fighter and as a fan. It was a no-brainer for me."
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