Tim Bradley currently works as a commentator for Top Rank on ESPN and is enjoying his life as a retired fighter and family man.
The two-division world champion from California was covering Friday’s big light heavyweight championship unification between Artur Beterbiev and Oleksandr Gvozdyk at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Shortly after Beterbiev’s impressive TKO victory of Gvozdyk to unify the IBF and WBC belts, Bradley spoke to the media as they fielded questions his way.
When the mention of Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao came up he made sure to give his opinion on his former rival.
Bradley was asked which of the welterweights would match up well and have the best chance of beating Manny Pacquiao, he answered bluntly.
“Any of those top welterweights is a good match up for Pacquiao,” said Bradley. “Porter is a great match up for him. Spence is a great match up for him. Personally, If I had Manny Pacquiao, I would keep him away from those guys. I would keep him away from a guy like Errol Spence. I would keep him away from a guy like Shawn Porter as well. I’d keep him away from Terence Crawford, all those top guys.”
He didn’t like how Pacquiao got hit in the Thurman fight and believes Pacquiao shouldn’t be fighting these younger and stronger guys at his age.
Bradley believes Pacquiao has to be calculated on how he fights and who he fights next, but should avoid Porter, Spence and Crawford because those are dangerous fights.
Bradley has been a harsh critic of the Filipino ring legend. Even going as far to say he favored Keith Thurman to beat him, only for the 40-year-old full time Senator to prove him wrong and hand the talkative undefeated Floridian his first professional defeat.
The main reason Bradley has advised Pacquiao to avoid the top guys is the age factor and wear and tear. Bradley wasn’t impressed with Pacquiao’s fight with Adrien Broner and saw slippage in the 8-divsion champion. He believed Thurman’s youth and size would be too much but it was Pacquiao’s power that made the difference in the fight.
Pacquiao became the oldest fighter to win a welterweight championship when he beat Thurman by split decision for the WBA world title.
As for Bradley, he has been included in the upcoming ballot for the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York and could likely be inducted alongside modern greats like Bernard Hopkins and Juan Manuel Marquez.
