Was he injured or just lost the heart after two paydays? Feels like he was cut short by a couple of years.
Provodnikov fight shaved years off his career I feel. Took a hellacious beating as well as giving one. Flush shots to go around. He lost something tnat night. Just my opinion
He was never the same after the Provodnikov fight, which he basically should have lost. edit: @ILikeBoxingForRealz just posted that already.
He made his fortune and found fame. And there were a lot of negatives that came along with that. His life post Pac 1 was hell at times. Everyone hated on Bradley. (Dude even ballooned up in weight. Tim Bradley of all people) Then there is Provodnikov. Bradley said he had issues with his speech for months after that fight. And as mentioned above, he started taking too much punishment. Provodnikov, Chavez, Vargas and Pac; they all beat him up. I honestly think he retired at the perfect time. He could have made a comeback but it seems like the fire wasn´t there. If anyone talks about perfect retirements, Tim Bradley should be bought up.
It's funny I thought him and atlas were a great team and wanted to see them fight 1 more top guy but he had a solid career with a tough list of opponents and his hard training mentality would be tough to maintain He fought manny 3 times and came up short what was really left for him?
Smart decision. He could have been in some interesting fights but he had already peaked and been in some wars. More fighters should do the same.
Made good money, and took a lot of punishment. Good idea to get into commentating while his health was still fairly intact.
Nah, the Provodnikov fight didn't take much out of him. Remember, Bradley went on to easily outbox a rampaging roided Roidquez coming off of the KO of the Century. Joel Diaz actually advised him not to fight Roidquez. There was an interview where he stated that he didn't have the drive to go through another training camp. The boy loves to eat! The third Pacquiao fight (and loss) basically took his soul.
Yep, that was a brutal fight. Both guys took a lot of damage. Bradley was a tough dude but you can only take so much. Bradley was a different guy after that fight. Plus he made a lot of money after the Pak fights. Tons of cash can change your perspective. This is speculation because I wouldn’t know personally. Would like to have this kind of problem.
The Provodnikov fight definitely took years off his career and diminished his punch resistance dramatically.. Marquez even roided up is not an aggressive fighter and wasn’t even a natural JWW let alone WW so couldn’t overwhelm Bradley like Provo.. It became really evident when a refs mistakes in the last seconds saved him from being TKOd by Jessie Vargas..
He said he decided to retire after he saw Pac's tough fight with Horn. If Pac, who beat him, is going through wars like that, I don't think he had the heart to go through one of his own. If Pac was still dominating, and Bradley thinks he's around that level, that would have inspired him to carry on. He basically saw his rival as shot and therefore he too must have been shot.
Fighting Pac 3x sets you for life really. In an interview, he did say that he wanted to retire healthy, and going to war against heavy hitters like Provodnikov, Pac and JMM, and getting the massive paydays from those fights, it's a sensible decision . Besides he's a a good commentator/analyst too, so it's not like he lost his boxing career .
He's always been a smart guy. He made a lot of money (Pac 3x). He's got a family and he didn't want to end up like many boxers who fought past their expiration date. He probably did it for his family. He wanted his kids to have a father who have all his senses in tact.