WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley’s #1 pick for his next fight is a rematch against former WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao who Bradley just finished beating last June despite having two hurt feet. However, with Bob Arum talking about Miguel Cotto or Juan Manuel Marquez for Pacquiao’s next fight on November 10th, Bradley says he’d be interested in facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Cotto next.
Bradley said to RingTV “If Manny Pacquiao doesn’t want to fight me, then I’m looking for a Floyd Mayweather fight. Or I’m looking for a Miguel Cotto fight.”
Well, it’s kind of not up to Bradley who he fights. He signed with Bob Arum of Top Rank, and he kind of will have to agree to fight with the guys that Arum can put fights together with, and I don’t see a fight being put together between Mayweather and Bradley, so he might as well forget about that one happening.
There’s a good chance that Pacquiao will take on Marquez next. In that case, Bradley-Cotto would be a good fight. However, Cotto doesn’t want to fight at 147 lbs anymore, and it’s unclear whether Bradley would be able to move up in weight to take a fight against Cotto unless it was a catch-weight variety fight. But Cotto might not be interested in facing Bradley, because Bradley’s last fight against Pacquiao failed to bring in huge pay per view numbers.
If Cotto fights Bradley, he would find himself in a PPV bout that brings in disappointing figures. Since the PPV buys are extremely important for fighters, Cotto might not be all that interested in facing Arum’s fighter Bradley. There’s no upside there for Cotto, and he might be hurting himself if he agrees to take on Bradley now if it doesn’t promise to bring in huge numbers. Cotto’s best bet is to try and get Pacquiao or Mayweather back in the ring. If not one of them, then he needs to go after a fight against WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez instead.
By: Chris Williams