I know the word "box" may be used out of context, but just because you're circling around the ring, flailing arm punch jabs, does not mean you can box. Bradley can be very good at inside fighting because when he's on the top of his game he is very elusive, durable, and even has some old school tricks. But when he's moving around the ring, he's very ineffective. Boxing is what Bernard Hopkins does. He is the epitome of boxing. You'll never see Bernard running around the ring, flailing jabs. So when people say Bradley can fight going backwards, they don't what they're talking about. Bradley can throw punches going backwards, but can he fight? No. If he could, he would have made it look easy against Ruslan. If he was a sharp boxer, he would have walked around in circles, using feints, jabs, right hand strafes, pivots, and grappling to make it a much easier fight. Instead, when he's on the outside, he's reduced to running and throwing a great volume of mostly arm punches, that leaves him open for hard counters. I like Bradley. I think he has more heart than any fighter in boxing today. He is a superman, but he doesn't know how to box. He has signficant flaws in his punching mechanics that contribute to this, and are ineffective against disuading his opponents from attacking.
I'll go a step further and say, he should probably avoid guys like Broner, Garcia, and Matthyse. He would beat guys like Khan, Judah (great fight though), Malinaggi, and other guys with limited power. He would even give Mayweather a tough fight, as long as he sticks to the gameplan of getting in close, keeping Mayweather off balance, and throwing non stop punches. Broner would likely KO him, and Garcia probably would too. Matthyse vs Bradley would be more of a war of wills, but it's a fight that would take a lot out of Bradley, and probably a lot out of Matthyse as well.
He's no Mayweather but he can box. If your theory is accurate then he would have gotten KTFO in his first pro fight. Imagine a guy with NO boxing skills and NO power. That's basically a gay hairstylist, not a pro boxer. And wrong, he did make it look easy against Provo for a few rounds when he focused on boxing. It was so bad that Roach almost stopped the fight. C'mon. This is easy. But troll on if you must.
No. he's not 100 percent slick. Sometimes he has the urge to stand and bang it out. Slick is hit and move, punch and run. Brad sometimes stays in the pocket to trade. And you what happens when he does. He gets put on on ***** street! Slick boxers do not give you the opportunity to tag em at all. Because they are running, dodging and ducking the heavy shots.
He was actually a lot better on back foot in the Provodkinov fight than I knew he was capable of. Against Pacquaio he was garbage throwing only some weak jabs on Pacquiaos guard.
He boxed well enough to keep Pacquiao off of his ass... even won a few rounds despite having zero power.
Again, this just further supplments my statement that Bradley runs around the ring flailing arm punches. That is not boxing. Perhaps, YOU call that boxing, but that's because no one taught you to punch properly, and you still operate with the amateur mindset, giving you the benefit of the doubt that you were actually an amateur. Do you know why Bradley doesn't get respect? Why his opponents walk through his punches? Because he doesn't punch with any authority, and while he isn't a natural puncher, that doesn't mean he can't develop the technique necessary to stop your opponents in their tracks. Bernard isn't a puncher, but a combination of his feints, and impact, precision punching keep his opponents honest. I wouldn't expect you to understand this, nor bball who just recently started boxing, and addmitted to being petrified in the ring, but there are those on this board who understand what I'm talking about. Boxing isn't just about slickness, it's about punching mechanics. Wlad isn't the slickest guy around either, but he can control you with his jab because he uses it with authority. He has the proper punching mechanics. Punching mechanics are a big part of boxing.
He can run around and be active and elusive, but he has no deterent because he doesn't know how to place his punches through proper punching mechanics. That's what seperates guys like Donaire, Wlad, Mayweather, Hopkins, and Ward from guys like Bradley. Note that Ward is a not a huge puncher, but his mechanics are excellent, which is why he can deter his opponents and you won't see him flailing punches and being out of position, open to counters. Bradley is good on the inside. In fact, I love the way he moves his body and his head. His bobbing and weaving style can be excellent when at the top of his game; however, his lack of punching mechanics will be his downfall.
Being able to punch has nothing to do with using his feet and upper body movement effectively. He's taking Peterson both ways and fighting when he wants to. That's boxing.