By Manouk Akopyan
Tue Jan 18, 2022
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Timothy Bradley Jr. has developed into one of boxing’s most brutally honest analysts ever since retiring in 2016 with a record of 33 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw.
The former 140 and 147-pound champion currently serves as a color commentator for ESPN, and the boxer-turned-broadcaster joined Max Kellerman’s show “Max on Boxing” to breakdown the current welterweight picture involving its three titlists in WBC and IBF crown holder Errol Spence Jr, WBA champion Yordenis Ugas and WBO belt holder Terrence Crawford.
Spence and Ugas are slated to slug it out this spring in a title unification fight, while Crawford, a promotional free agent coming off a convincing KO win against Shawn Porter in November, is picking a fight with Top Rank by suing the company he’d been tied with throughout his ascent as a three-division champion.
“Yeah, [Spence] is a next-level super-type of fighter. I believe that, but I still think he’s running from Terence Crawford, to be honest with you,” said Bradley. “How do I see [Spence vs. Ugas]? It’s a tough fight but an easier fight than Terence Crawford. Yordenis Ugas, he’s a waiter. He’s a counter puncher. We’ve seen Errol in the ring against counter punchers. Danny Garcia was a counter puncher, and Mikey Garcia was a counter puncher. We’ve seen what [Spence] can do against those types of guys. He can orchestrate his jab from the outside. He can dominate from the outside, and he can come around the guards of these guys. He can dictate the pace. That’s what he’s going to do against Ugas.
“My only concern is in this fight is [Spence’s] eye. You got to understand – you can have no hands, you can have no feet, you got to have eyes to be able to see inside the ring. And when one of your lenses is messed up, you got to understand that tells your brain what you’re seeing. Your eyes are telling your brain what you’re seeing. So, I think with Spence, I’m worried about his eye. It’s not going to be 100%. Once you get surgery on something, it’s never the same. It’s different.”
Over the summer, Spence announced he’d suffered a torn left retina that required surgery days before his Aug. 21 scheduled fight against Manny Pacquiao.
Ugas ended up serving as a late replacement opponent and upset the legendary Filipino fighter in a convincing unanimous decision victory.
Bradley also fought Pacquiao three times, winning a controversial split decision in 2012 and dropping unanimous decisions in 2014 and 2016, the last fight of his 12-year career.
“Going into [Spence vs. Ugas], I worry about coordination and how [Spence is] feeling and how he’s seeing, and all these things are affected by his vision. So, I think it’s going to be a good fight,” Bradley said. “I think Spence will come up on top, but I think it’s a challenging fight for him in that sense. Stylistically, I think his style favors Ugas.”
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