The year ahead for Timothy Bradley

This should be an interesting year for Timothy Bradley and Top Rank. Bradley will be in the last year of his contract with Top Rank and will essentially have two more fights that need to be completed this year. After that, it seems likely Bradley could become a free agent.

Since signing with Top Rank in 2011, Bradley has earned enough money to be set for life and added to his resume that will be strong enough to be considered for the Hall of Fame.

But the problem is Top Rank needs to sign more boxers in the welterweight and light welterweight divisions so Bradley can have more intriguing fights. Outside a rematch with Manny Pacquiao or Ruslan Provodnikov, there aren’t many great options for Bradley.

There’s been talk about a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez. I can only see that being problematic. First of all, Marquez played a shell game with Bradley and backed out of VADA drug testing. I’m sure Bradley will work really hard to make sure that testing is in place and agreed upon this time. But Marquez never seemed willing to do the VADA testing. Instead, they agreed to testing provided by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. And second of all, I don’t think Marquez showed enough in the first fight that will draw fans into a rematch.

There are some promising welterweights in the Top Rank stables in Carlos Abregu, Jose Benevidez, Mike Jones, Jessie Vargas and Mikael Zewski. Bradley has already beaten Abregu in his final fight at Agua Caliente and first fight in the 147-pound weight class. As for Benevidez, Jones, Vargas and Zewski, they are not established stars and Bradley only wants to fight established stars. That’s not to say one of these guys couldn’t put on a Provodnikov performance against Bradley, which was the 2013 Fight of the Year by nearly every boxing journalist. But Bradley feels as an undefeated fighter, he should fight a higher calibre of fighter. And who’s to argue?

Two other welterweights who do have name recognition right now, Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado, are both coming off big losses. Rios is on a two-fight losing streak, so it’s hard to justify him fighting for Bradley’s title until he gets a few more wins under his belt. Alvarado couldn’t answer the bell against Provodnikov and lost his belt in October. He has no momentum to bring into a title fight as well.

The Pacquiao camp doesn’t seem very interested in fighting Bradley, but they’re running out of excuses. They always say they don’t need Bradley and Bradley doesn’t sell. But Pacquiao appears not to have the same drawing power he once did after his disappointing numbers against Brandon Rios, where pay-per-view sales were reported 475,000. That’s a huge drop off from a guy who averaged over a million pay-per-view buys in his last night fights, including his 2012 fight against Bradley. Pacquiao will need to find a fighter who will bring in a good number. Marquez, Bradley and Cotto are the only ones who will fit that bill that are available to Pacquiao and Top Rank. Cotto and Pacquiao have failed to find a catch weight to fight at, and Marquez has said he has no interest in a fifth fight against Pacquiao.

Provodnikov could generate interest, but he’s never fought on pay-per-view. And after the Rios fight, you would think Top Rank would not want to go with an unknown.

Now there are attractive options for Pacquiao and Bradley in the Golden Boy camp. But there’s no reason to believe the cold war will end anytime soon. Earlier today, Floyd Mayweather shot down rumors that a superfight against Pacquiao was in the works. But Pacqiao-Mayweather seems like the first domino that has to fall for the cold war to end, and it doesn’t seem likely.

But Pacquiao, like Bradley, reportedly can leave Top Rank after their contracts expire after this year. If neither can secure attractive and lucrative fights in 2014, it could spell trouble for Top Rank to lose both fighters.

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