:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/17287201/004_figueroa_vs_arakawa_img_0396.0.jpg)
If you can't make up your mind on what leads the 2013 Fight of the Year race thus far, Timothy Bradley has cast his own vote, and it's not for his March 16 slugfest against Ruslan Provodnikov. Bradley says that last Saturday's fight between Omar Figueroa (who shares a trainer with Bradley) and Nihito Arakawa blew his bout with Provodnikov away.
"That killed my fight. My fight was a baby compared to that fight. ... (Arakawa) is the toughest guy I've seen in my life. I thought I was tough. He would not quit. He was willing to die. He was standing in there taking Omar's best punch."
Joel Diaz's brother Julio Diaz says that he'd still pick Bradley-Provodnikov, and believes that Bradley is "being humble" when he says that Figueroa-Arakawa topped his own bout.
And here's Joel Diaz himself discussing the topic:
What's your pick? Figueroa-Arakawa or Bradley-Provodnikov? Or something else? Like are you part of the minority picking Rios-Alvarado II, or some other fight, and then you're like, "it's none of those fights anyone actually saw, you lepton!"