NEW YORK -- Welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr. is supposed to be back in action March 16 and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has been saying it’s going to be a big-name opponent, but he won’t say who.
But from what I am told, Top Rank has a deal with Yuriorkis Gamboa to face Bradley in an HBO main event at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
Gamboa, the 50 Cent-promoted former featherweight titlist, won an interim junior lightweight belt in December on the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez IV undercard in a deal made with Top Rank (Gamboa’s former promoter).
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Gamboa would move up in weight to challenge for Bradley’s welterweight title, but there are issues of how high. My sources tell me that they have been unable to agree on an exact weight. Gamboa, at a huge size disadvantage, would like Bradley to come into the low 140s while Bradley (not far removed from being a champion at 140) is not keen on dropping weight, nor is he in love with the financial terms.
It remains to be seen if Bradley will take the fight. He hasn’t fought since June, when he got a gift decision (and a welterweight title) against Pacquiao.
He could have returned in December to fight a rematch with Lamont Peterson (the junior welterweight titlist who would have moved up in weight) on HBO for $2.3 million. But Bradley turned it down, even though he had decisively beaten Peterson a couple of years ago.
One of the reasons there could be issues closing a deal with Bradley -- and this is speculation, but some in the business believe could be legit -- is that he is also being considered as an opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 4.
Obviously, he would make way more money against Mayweather than Gamboa. And he wouldn’t have to lose any weight.
Some might ask how could a Mayweather fight be made, since Mayweather is with Al Haymon and Golden Boy is the main promoter of the event, and Haymon and Golden Boy have horrific relations with Top Rank, Bradley’s promoter.
I believe that if a Mayweather fight was presented to Bradley, that Top Rank, for the right seven-figure cut of the Bradley package, would allow him to go fight Mayweather and stay out of the promotion.
I can see it happening. If you’re Mayweather, Bradley is a better style fight for him than either of the two candidates being discussed for his next fight: Robert Guerrero (a physical southpaw) and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (a bigger man with good power). Bradley is right-handed, smaller and presents less problems than they do.
Maybe I’m being a conspiracy theorist here, but maybe, just maybe, the hang up in announcing Mayweather’s next opponent is because there are delicate talks going on behind the scenes for a possible fight with Bradley, whose attorney Gabriel Penagaricano, has a good relationship with Golden Boy through his recent dealings with the company on behalf of his top client, Miguel Cotto (Mayweather’s last opponent).
If Bradley vacates the March 16 date -- be it to fight Mayweather or because he won’t agree to terms for a Gamboa fight -- it would not surprise me to see Top Rank and HBO move junior featherweight titlist Nonito Donaire up a month (possibly to fight a unification bout with Guillermo Rigondeaux) and have him fill the date rather than go in April, which is the plan now.
Article talks about Bradley more. Timmy just mystifies me. I know he got a gift of matchup and decision vs Pac....I cannot believe he balked at 2.3 milly vs Peterson.
As for May...I think he fights the Ghost
Canelo would be huge...and I dont think he fights Bradley. Bradley is delusional. He couldnt sell 10k tix right now
He has earned the "one fight a year" deal....As a boxing fan I hate it....he should at least go twice...and the purist in me says fight way more
Nonito Donaire is my hero right now, I think Floyd is clean but Nonito had a helluva a year AND went above and beyond on testing and didnt care that his opponents did not
There is not many pickings for Floyd...he is the A side normally. The Ghost is not known at all to the gen pop, but Canelo is HUGE in Mexico
Bradley is a moron, and that would make for a really boring fight.
Guerrero is the best for TV, Canelo is the biggest
He is gonna fight before Sept.....I believe The Ghost it is
Pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been silent about his boxing future since he got out of jail after serving a two-month sentence last summer. He has left the talk of his next fight up to adviser Leonard Ellerbe, who announced on Mayweather's behalf in December that he would fight May 4 on pay-per-view (TV company TBA) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
As for the opponent? Ellerbe wouldn't discuss names, but behind the scenes there have been discussions with the two obvious potential opponents, interim welterweight titlist Robert Guerrero and junior middleweight titlist Canelo Alvarez. Guerrero is perceived by most as being the favorite to land the fight.
So while the speculation continues over who Mayweather will face -- and I also happen to think there's an outside shot of a deal with welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr. -- Mayweather finally broke his boxing silence on Wednesday on Twitter, although he didn't offer any answers.
"As of right now I don't know who I'm fighting on May 4th," Mayweather tweeted. "Me fighting Robert Guerrero is just a rumor."
[/COLOR] By Lance PugmireJanuary 22, 2013, 4:44 p.m.
Negotiations for fights that will likely define the first half of 2013 are accelerating this week, beginning with the May 4 card expected to feature Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in separate bouts.
Golden Boy Promotions Chief Executive Richard Schaefer told The Times on Tuesday that attorneys could finalize details this week for Mayweather Jr.’s likely bout against Robert Guerrero.
Schaefer added Alvarez “will be fighting May 4, and so will Mayweather, but I’m not saying they’re fighting each other and I’m not saying anything more until we’ve finalized the agreements.”
Alvarez, the super-welterweight world champion, could fight Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland or Austin Trout.
The location is expected to be MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, Schaefer and his rival promoter Bob Arum have struck at least a minor agreement, allowing Abner Mares’ manager Frank Espinoza to serve as an intermediary to negotiate a possible April 13 super-bantamweight title unification bout between Golden Boy’s Mares and Arum’s Nonito Donaire.
Espinoza said he is “encouraged” by the momentum of the talks and contends “this is a very marketable fight between a great fighter from Mexico and a great fighter from the Philippines.”
Espinoza said he would expect to know if the fight can happen within two weeks, after Arum returns from a trip.
Though Mares (25-0-1, 13 knockouts) will likely accept a smaller purse than Donaire in the bout, Schaefer and Espinoza said they’ve proposed that should Mares win, the purses would be flip-flopped for the rematch.
Schaefer said he doubts Arum will agree because “he knows Donaire will lose.”
Yet, Donaire (31-1, 20 KOs), likely to be named the fighter of the year for 2012, would be the expected betting favorite in the bout.
Painting a grim outcome of the talks is Donaire manager Cameron Dunkin, who told The Times, “That fight’s not happening. Get over it, and let’s move in to something else.”
Dunkin said Mares is asking for too much money – cash that will not be near what HBO or Showtime would pay for the fight.
Yet, Dunkin is optimistic that a rematch between his fighter, Oxnard’s Brandon Rios, and Mike Alvarado – a possible 2012 fight of the year – will be made for March 30 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
“We’re closer, not quite there, but on the downhill slope,” Dunkin said.
There are agonizing talks underway to make a March 16 Timothy Bradley-Yuriorkis Gamboa fight atHome Depot Center in Carson.
Bradley (29-0, 12 KOs) would defend the World Boxing Organization belt he won from Manny Pacquiao in June, but the fighters at this point are trying to haggle through talks for a catch-weight limit.
Bradley has moved to 145 pounds, according to a source familiar with negotiations but unauthorized to discuss them, after 130-pound fighter Gamboa (22-0, 16 KOs) requested the bout be at 143 pounds.
