Timothy Bradley Calls Out Floyd Mayweather, Options Limited For 2012 Return

Timothy Bradley, who yesterday expressed his disappointment over Manny Pacquiao choosing to face Juan Manuel Marquez on December 8, has today again said that Pacquiao is scared of him, and has now added a bonus by challenging Floyd Mayweather.

"I didn't like the whole waiting around and the whole running around thing that Pacquiao did. So, we all know that Manny's truly afraid to fight me again. So how about I fight Floyd Mayweather? I guess that Manny's fighting a guy that really beat him, and Floyd's already beaten the guy that is getting this next fight with Manny. So the only guy that's left is Tim Bradley, so Floyd, let's do it."

Bradley (29-0, 12 KO) has fallen far short of convincing the public that his June 9 win over Pacquiao was legitimate, and truth is his star power doesn't seem to have increased a whole lot by association with that fight. Now he's in a tough position where he has to talk, and kind of has to talk big, but he also runs the risk of doing exactly what he is doing right now: Alienating boxing fans who feel he's now nothing but hot air, and claiming superiority for a win that the majority of them don't believe is really valid.

Like I said yesterday, I do feel for Bradley, but I also understand those folks who wish he'd shut up, or at least take it down a notch. It's an honest reaction to what he's doing at this point, what he's forced into doing at this point.

He's giving off the vibe that either he's gone a little off the rails, or his ego has gotten out of control with his team pumping him up and telling him Manny's afraid, so he thinks Manny's afraid, and he says Manny's afraid.

I doubt many who aren't biased toward his side agree with that. Truth is, if Pacquiao beats Marquez, Pacquiao vs Bradley II is there in 2013. Pacquiao vs Marquez might not have been an option next year, as Marquez is 39 years old. If that was going to be done, the time is now.

But I can't help but keep coming back to the fact that Timothy Bradley is odd man out here, and that's not really fair to him. All he did on June 9 was fight as hard as he could. He didn't score it.

As for the Mayweather challenge, I doubt I have to really say this for most of you reading this, and certainly not for any of our regulars and commenters, but Timothy Bradley is promoted by Top Rank. Unless that changes, Top Rank doesn't work with Floyd Mayweather, and Floyd Mayweather doesn't work with Top Rank. I'd really be perfectly happy to see the fight as much as I'm happy to see anything Floyd could do besides finally fight Pacquiao, but it's not going to happen unless something has seriously changed, or something seriously changes in the near future. Bradley can't just make a fight with Mayweather without Top Rank. It doesn't work that way.

Take away all the BS here, and Timothy Bradley is a really good fighter who's looking for a fight. And he deserves a good one, too. I can't find anyone at 140 or 147 who is really appealing as a possible November/December opponent for him when you take away the Golden Boy guys and Mayweather. He deserves better than what appears to be out there for him at the moment, but that's just kind of how it is. It's unfair, and there's not much he can do about it.