If Timothy Bradley is going to get a rematch with Manny Pacquiao in 2014, the proceedings are sure moving slowly. There is speculation that Top Rank prefers Pacquiao face someone other than Bradley, due to the fact that "Desert Storm" is far from an elite draw.
Many are clamoring for either Bradley or Pacquiao to fight "Siberian Rocky" Ruslan Provodnikov instead. Bradley's already been through a hellish war with Provodnikov once before, while Pacquiao's action style figures to produce a crowd-pleasing affair.
Pacquiao and Provodnikov share Freddie Roach as a trainer, which makes a Ruslan vs. Bradley fight more feasible. Bradley's been accused of ducking Provodnikov now, though, preferring not to be in the ring with a bull like that again. In response Bradley made a bizarre claim of looking out for Ruslan by not facing him.
"Not that I'm afraid to face Ruslan," Bradley said. "He's a very promising talented fighter who has a very bright future that suffering a loss this early in his career might be detrimental to his aspiration of becoming a great fighter."
The comments were odd; a short time ago Bradley's remarks on the topic regarded money, not any desire to protect another fighter. "At the time I fought him, I was in a different position than I am now. I'm looking for big fights, and I know this rematch would be a huge fan favorite or whatever," Bradley said in November. "But they're going to have to pay me a whole lot of money. They're going to have to pay me a whole lot of money to get back in the ring with that animal. That dude is a beast."
Meanwhile, Pacquiao said he'd like to face Bradley in a rematch of their controversial 2012 bout that saw "Desert Storm" awarded a split decision victory. "Yes, I want to fight Bradley, simply because I want to win back the title he took from me by a questionable decision," Pacquiao said.
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