Bradley vs Marquez: Tim Bradley’s trainer says Bob Arum wants Marquez to win

Timothy Bradley’s trainer thinks that they’ll be fighting all the odds, including promoter Bob Arum not wanting him to beat Juan Manuel Marquez on October 12.


Joel Diaz doesn’t think that Bob Arum wants Timothy Bradley to beat Juan Manuel Marquez on October 12, when the two fighters clash for Bradley’s WBO welterweight title in Las Vegas, live on HBO pay-per-view. In fact, Diaz is sure that Arum would prefer Bradley to lose, because Marquez is a bigger draw, and Bradley has never gotten his due in the industry.

From Chris Robinson at Hustleboss.com:

    “Tim Bradley has always worked his way up the hard way,” Diaz told me recently. “Nobody’s ever given him love in the business of boxing. Every single one of his fights, they want to take him out; they want to put him out of the business, one way or another. But he keeps winning. That’s one thing that we have in mind. For a fact, I know that his promoter would rather have Marquez win than Bradley win. And we know that.”

    Asked why he feels that way, Diaz had no problem sharing his opinion.

    “Marquez is a big name, he’s a big draw,” said Diaz. “Bradley, as you can see, he doesn’t draw much. He doesn’t have a big draw in boxing. But he keeps winning, he keeps fighting. He’s a four-time world champion. As a business person, I’m sure that Bob Arum would rather have Marquez win than Bradley win. Because there [are] bigger fights out there and bigger opponents. We have that in mind and we work against all those adversities.”

Bradley (30-0, 12 KO) is the underdog against Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO), the bigger star coming off of a career-defining win over Manny Pacquiao. Bradley also beat Pacquiao last year, but it was slightly less definitive to say the least.

Do you think Arum is actively rooting against Bradley in this fight? On the one hand, Marquez is the bigger star, but he’s also 40 years old as of yesterday, and he’s not even committing himself to fighting past this outing. Bradley, who turns 30 next week, has a lot more future ahead of him. A convincing win over Marquez would push him toward undeniable territory. Maybe not a big draw, but a lot more money to make over a longer time for the promoter, and money is the name of the game.

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Breaking Down Bradley vs Marquez Pay-Per-View Undercard

Well, it’s not exactly “The One.” Maybe “The Five.” That doesn’t even make any sense. The October 12 HBO and Top Rank pay-per-view which will pit Timothy Bradley against Juan Manuel Marquez in the main event has a fully finalized undercard set, and it’s … y’know. There are some fights.

Let’s take a quick look at the three bouts that will air on the show before the main event:

    Orlando Salido (39-12-2, 27 KO) will look to regain the now-vacant WBO featherweight title when he faces Orlando Cruz (20-2-1, 10 KO) in what will be the main undercard fight of the evening. Salido is generally pretty enjoyable to watch, and given the fact that he’ll likely be a bit too much for Cruz, this could be, like, entertaining. The intrigue in the matchup is mostly whether or not Cruz, 32, has made improvements since the last time he fought someone better than mediocre, when Daniel Ponce De Leon knocked him out in three rounds in 2010. It seems unlikely, but you never know.
    The fight most #boxingfriends will look forward to seeing, I’m guessing, is the pro debut of two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomachenko. Lomachenko, 25, isn’t wasting time, as he’s going right into a 10-round featherweight fight for his debut, facing Jose Luis Ramirez (25-3, 15 KO). This is how incredibly confident everyone is about Lomachenko’s credentials. Ramirez’s record is really thin, but he is coming off of a win over Rey Bautista.
    In the PPV opener, light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan (18-0, 11 KO) will faceAnthony Caputo Smith (14-1, 10 KO). When Top Rank signed Monaghan, it made sense in that he’s a legitimate local draw in New York. You stick him on some undercards in NY, bring some extra people in for something like a Nonito Donaire fight or whatever, and that’s a good use of resources and the fighter. Monaghan on a pay-per-view show from Vegas makes less sense. And don’t be fooled, either: Monaghan is a 32-year-old fighter who is less prospect than he is limited club battler. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you’re seeing a club fight to open this show, basically. If it’s a good watch, no one will much care. It beats a fight

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with two guys who also aren’t contenders and put on something boring to sit through, too.

Bradley vs. Marquez: ‘Desert Storm’ Right to Push for Strict Drug Testing

In the aftermath of his stunning sixth-round knockout victory over Manny Pacquiao this past December, Juan Manuel Marquez met with a fair amount of skepticism from a boxing public stunned over the outcome and his newly chiseled physique.

His association with Angel “Memo” Heredia—who goes by the name Angel Hernandez—raised additional flags for many, as Memo had been associated with the BALCO scandal. He avoided jail time only by becoming a witness for the federal government.

Other than innuendo and conjecture, no evidence has surfaced implicating that Marquez sought or used any performance-enhancing drugs for his fight with Pacquiao or anyone else.

But in a combat sport, you can never be too careful, and that’s why his next opponent, Timothy Bradley, is right for insisting on stringent testing requirements for their October bout on HBO pay-per-view.

Bradley’s team has indicated that the contract for their bout requires both United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing and the much more rigorous requirements of the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA).

According to Bradley, Marquez was initially reluctant about the inclusion of VADA, and a compromise was reached to use both labs. In his last bout, with Russian RuslanProvodnikov, Bradley submitted to VADA testing.

Marquez now seems willing to participate in the programs, but Top Rank CEO Bob Arum appears to be attempting a last-minute switcheroo. He wants the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which is known for its lapsed standards, to administer testing instead.

For his part, Bradley indicated that if Marquez weren’t subjected to the USADA andVADA testing, then the fight wouldn’t happen, according to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. And who can blame him?

Nobody is saying that Marquez is doing anything illegal. You can draw your own conclusions from his associations and his newfound muscle. It’s possible that his improved physique is the result of a new training regimen and hard work, as he hasstated on more than one occasion.

But Bradley, or any other fighter for that matter, needs to be sure. There should be no disagreement or negotiations when it comes to strict drug testing in any fight.

Boxers are trained to land punches that maximize their impact. It’s a dangerous game, and everyone who signs up for it knows the inherent risks.

Fighters and fans understand that any punch could end a career or even someone’s life. That risk is more amplified when a fighter is using a substance designed to make him hit harder or faster.

Boxing needs some sort of universal standard to root this problem out of the sport. It’s not baseball, where PEDs result in a few more home runs or strikeouts. In boxing, they can end a life.

Bradley is 100 percent correct for threatening to pull out of the fight without strict drug testing in place. And more specifically, he’s right for insisting that VADA be the organization to administer the testing.

Unlike many other protocols for PED testing, VADA does not provide any sort of advance notice before administering a test.

Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. It’s hard to imagine perfection ever coming when there is such an incentive to use better, stronger and harder-to-detect substances that enhance performance.

But right now, VADA is the best we have. And Bradley should stick to his guns. Either Marquez takes the tests, or Bradley walks away.

After all, it’s his life on the line, and no amount of money can replace it.

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Pacquiao Marquez 5: Pac-Man To Fight His Rival After Brandon Rios? Boxers Could Square Off In 2014

Manny Pacquiao may get his revenge on main rival Juan Manuel Marquez soon enough. Both boxers have scheduled fights in the coming months, but they could meet shortly after.

On Oct. 12, Marquez will face Timothy Bradley for the WBO welterweight championship at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Six weeks later, Pacquiao will take on Brandon Rios on Mancu, China. If the two rivals are victorious, WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel says they should meet, once again, according to notifight.com.

“If Marquez and Pacquiao both win, the World Boxing Organization regulations would view the Filipino as [the mandatory] challenger to Juan Manuel,” Valcarcel said.

Pacquiao held the welterweight until he dropped it to Bradley last June. He went on to fight Marquez, never getting his rematch.

“Pacquiao goes against Rios for the WBO International title, while Marquez will attempt to capture the world welterweight championship of the WBO from Bradley,” Valcarcel continued. “If both win, the bout between them would be ready.”

A bout between Pacquiao and Marquez would be the fifth since 2004. Pac-Man won two consecutive after the first bout ended in a draw. In December, Marquez finally got the upper hand by knocking out Pacquiao in the sixth round. It was the second straight defeat for the 34-year-old, who hasn’t won in almost two years.
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