Ruslan Pirodnikov-Tim Bradley
THE BRADLEY-PROVODNIKOV “WAR”
New York, NY– Following last weekend’s exciting welterweight (147 lb) match up between WBO champion, Tim Bradley (30-0, 12 KO’s) and Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KOs), fans may wonder what’s next for California’s ‘Desert Storm‘. To date, Bradley has managed to defeat every one of his opponents almost entirely on pure will. And despite looking less than stellar at times, he is clearly a threat and a very good fighter. Bradley recently mentioned that he would like to fight more often, possibly three times a year with his current promoter being Top Rank. There are a couple of names on his current promotional roster that provide excellent match ups but the biggest name is Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2 38 KOs).
JMM NOT AVAILABLE, BRADLEY-PAC II ONLY REAL FIGHT
Manny Pacquiao may be eying a fifth showdown and revenge against Juan Manuel Marquez, but JMM isn’t and declined, thus a match versus Bradley makes sense for both the Pacman and Bradley. If Manny plans to make a significant impact on the current rankings, Bradley is a name he could use to get back in the mix. After suffering a devastating knockout to Marquez in December of last year, Bradley appears to be the softer touch, with an equally high profile. Tim also needs to make it clear that he can beat Pacquiao decisively and deserves the credit the public never afforded him the first time they met. It’s a win, win for all parties involved.
WILL IT BOIL DOWN TO DRUG TESTS?
Bradley has recently stated that he will include random (pressumably WADA or VADA) drug testing protocol for the remainder of his career. This means that any opponent who plans on facing Bradley will also need to face the prospect of random drug screening, which is gaining popularity among boxing’s top fighter’s. If Bradley and Pacquiao do plan on meeting again, it will be interesting to see if this demand will be obliged to by Paquiao. At this stage picking the winner is like a bet on march madness. Surely, it would be a great victory if Manny were to not only defeat Bradley, but also clear up rumors of steroid use, killing two birds with one stone. Bradley could put Pacquiao in the win column in more ways than one, and we’d love to see the potential drama play out.
IF NOT PACQUIAO, THEN WHO?
Bradly could always face Provodnikov again, and it would be entertaining. But there is much more risk than reward in that scenario, especially when there is a much better option staring you in the face. Bradley walked away with a victory against Pacquiao with two bum feet in their first bout. With his body at 100%, how could he do much worse? Bradley in my opinion should go after Pacquiao because he has little time to stay undefeated and marketable. The good thing here is that the storyline is already set, all that’s needed is the combatants in the ring.
Jarrad Woods