Bradley To Be Stripped of WBC Title

Just been looking on the Sky Sports app on my phone which I can't cut and paste from, but it seems Khan is not alone in his belief that Tim Bradley should be stripped of his titles. Bradley hasn't fought since January and is yet to defend the WBC title he won from Alexander, with no opponent lined up. He is involved in a legal wrangle with his promotors having pulled out of a verbally agreed deal to fight khan this month, and is now unlikely to fight again this year. Meanwhile Erik Morales has petitioned the WBC to have his fight with Jorge Barrios on the mayweather Ortiz undercard as a bout for Bradleys title (Crolla it seems has been bumped out of the picture). Sulaiman (a fellow Mexican) has apparently sanctioned this, with an announcement pending.

Khan has already made noise about fighting morales - if El Terrible lands himself the WBC title you can guarantee it'll happen. So, having already won an IBF strap from Judah that rightfully belonged to Bradley, khan could now do the same with the WBC. It seems that, due to boxing politics and Bradleys promotional issues and inactivity Khan could well go on to be undisputed champion at 140lb without ever having to face TB. Bradley and Khan are both great talents and should be facing off, Bradley needs to get his act together or he will find his career ebbing away - he's not a popular fighter as it is which hinders his clout at the negotiating table, his titles redeem that but if he ends up losing them all outside the ring he'll end up with nothing but hus unbeaten record to hang his hat on, while khan mops up his mess and rakes all the glory.

Bradley's only got himself to blame, he's looking a ducker more and more as time goes on. I genuinely think now Khan wants to fight the best, and therefore TB, but he's going to end up unifying in tepid fashion.

TopHat24/7 wrote:Bradley's only got himself to blame, he's looking a ducker more and more as time goes on. I genuinely think now Khan wants to fight the best, and therefore TB, but he's going to end up unifying in tepid fashion.

I agree. In honesty I'm not much of a khan fan although I acknowledge he's a talent, but I'd fancy Bradley to bully him to a win. Khan does seem willing to fight the best which is highly admirable (although he's a known miser at the negotiating table) whereas Bradley is now starting to harm his own reputation. Whether it's for political, financial or even boxing reasons there can be no doubt he's avoided khan right now, which reflects badly on him when khan has been so vocal in calling him out. For him not to fight again this year would be farcical and his career is suffering long term for what seems like a short term dispute.

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:Bradley's only got himself to blame, he's looking a ducker more and more as time goes on. I genuinely think now Khan wants to fight the best, and therefore TB, but he's going to end up unifying in tepid fashion.

I agree. In honesty I'm not much of a khan fan although I acknowledge he's a talent, but I'd fancy Bradley to bully him to a win. Khan does seem willing to fight the best which is highly admirable (although he's a known miser at the negotiating table) whereas Bradley is now starting to harm his own reputation. Whether it's for political, financial or even boxing reasons there can be no doubt he's avoided khan right now, which reflects badly on him when khan has been so vocal in calling him out. For him not to fight again this year would be farcical and his career is suffering long term for what seems like a short term dispute.

Being fair to Khan, he offered Bradley 50/50, and considering Bradley probably couldn't sell out his own living room, that was very good of him despite Khan's poor rep at the negotiating table. I have nothing but respect for Khan through all of this, and couldn't care less about Bradley, I hope the WBO strip him as well.

licence_007 wrote:

Sugar Boy Sweetie wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:Bradley's only got himself to blame, he's looking a ducker more and more as time goes on. I genuinely think now Khan wants to fight the best, and therefore TB, but he's going to end up unifying in tepid fashion.

I agree. In honesty I'm not much of a khan fan although I acknowledge he's a talent, but I'd fancy Bradley to bully him to a win. Khan does seem willing to fight the best which is highly admirable (although he's a known miser at the negotiating table) whereas Bradley is now starting to harm his own reputation. Whether it's for political, financial or even boxing reasons there can be no doubt he's avoided khan right now, which reflects badly on him when khan has been so vocal in calling him out. For him not to fight again this year would be farcical and his career is suffering long term for what seems like a short term dispute.

Being fair to Khan, he offered Bradley 50/50, and considering Bradley probably couldn't sell out his own living room, that was very good of him despite Khan's poor rep at the negotiating table. I have nothing but respect for Khan through all of this, and couldn't care less about Bradley, I hope the WBO strip him as well.

Completely agree - Khan has shown willingness to fight the best - Bradley has done FK all of recent. He deserves to be stripped. Ideally want Khan to fight him though. I personally think Khan is the man at 140 - not Bradley - others will disagree.

I agree Daz, seen nothing to convince me that Bradley is anything special. Pretty good with his head though. I would like Khan to beat him just to prove beyond a doubt that he was the man at light-welter before he makes the step up.

Through his procrastination Bradley's left himself right up a certain creek, sans paddle. The reasons for his inaction are largely irrelevant. What matters is that:

1) he's left himself inactive.
2) he's given Khan chance to acquire a second belt, thus removing much of Bradley's bargaining power in any negotiations.
3) he's now looking like being stripped.

What a farce of a situation. The icing on the cake is that the WBMexico will no doubt go ahead and gift the title to a Mexican. More nails, Mr undertaker?

BALTIMORA wrote:Through his procrastination Bradley's left himself right up a certain creek,

List of ten reasons why I procrastinate:

1.

The one positive that could come out of this is that it might give Bradley a bit of a kick up the backside to hurry on and fight Khan.

if bradley is stripped and morales fights for the title, i can see khan waiting around and fighting morales for unify 3 of the 4 titles, thats if bradley doesnt get stripped of both of them. i would be happy to watch khan fight morales, if its for a title- and i'm sure khan and bradley will fight at some point even if its at 147. i dont know what bradley is doing, either he's ducking or stuck in legal limbo, either way he should let people know instead of just a wall on silence.

Am I the only one who feels sorry for Bradley?

It seems as though circumstances have got the better of him.

For him to accept a fight with Khan at this juncture would probably spell disaster for his law suit with his promoter - the question asked would be, why couldn't he keep to the original fight date if he is now willing to take on Khan?

Somehow I think he just miscalculated.

He probably wanted the biggest paydays possible by claiming his guaranteed 1.2 million (?) by fighting anyone other than Khan and then fighting Khan or Pacquiao for a larger payday in the future.

Unfortunately the backlash has been huge.

He seems to have lost any respect that he had with American fight fans.

If he is stripped of one of his belts it would spell financial disaster. Khan may no longer be interested and Floyd/Pac would most definitely not be interested.

if you dont take a unifaction fight when between them they've cleared out the division you need to expect backlash. if khan was in bradleys position i think he would be critised a hell of a lot more than bradleys getting.

I can understand the backlash.

However, I also understand that the window for making money in boxing is very small, and most boxers post-retirement don't have many other skills to fall back on.

Hence I can understand why he would want to try and take the best financial route, especially as he himself is not a big draw commercially.

He was probably looking for his family's best interests but ultimately made an error of judgement.

I don't think Khan's helped the situation with the reputation he's developed for being a bit tight at negotiations, but I think the larger part of the blame has to lie with Bradley. He's wasted too much time and unfortunately for him it's done more harm than good.

Both guys should be open to the same criticism if one should be seen to be preventing a unification from happening. As it happens, that appears to be Bradley.

Unfortunately if Bradley IS stripped and Khan fights whoever wins the vacant belt, Khan will always have to contend with people saying that he was lucky because Bradley would have beaten him (as often as not followed by 'imo FACT'). Sadly it's impossible to please everyone.

emancipator wrote:Am I the only one who feels sorry for Bradley?

It seems as though circumstances have got the better of him.

For him to accept a fight with Khan at this juncture would probably spell disaster for his law suit with his promoter - the question asked would be, why couldn't he keep to the original fight date if he is now willing to take on Khan?

Somehow I think he just miscalculated.

He probably wanted the biggest paydays possible by claiming his guaranteed 1.2 million (?) by fighting anyone other than Khan and then fighting Khan or Pacquiao for a larger payday in the future.

Unfortunately the backlash has been huge.

He seems to have lost any respect that he had with American fight fans.

If he is stripped of one of his belts it would spell financial disaster. Khan may no longer be interested and Floyd/Pac would most definitely not be interested.

You're definitely not the only one. I fully understand why Bradley has such issues with his promoter. Come on - the guy is an undefeated champion who has beaten the divisional number 2 3 times - in Holt, Witter and Alexander. And yet - Khan, a Brit is a bigger name stateside than he is.

He's miscalculated. Epically. When Khan beats Morales - that's it, Khan a unified champ and the Mayweather fight happens. Sigh.

I had a feeling that Bradley wanted uncle Bob Arum to come in with an offer for his services - so he could finally get that payday against Manny. I don't think its going to happen, myself.

It's backfired on Bradley but i can understand what he was trying to do, he's lost some of his negotiating power now though and big fights might not come his way easily now. He's waited far too long to defend.

i think they will end up fighting next year at 147 anyway

Bradley should have just took the Khan fight when it was offered if he was that confident of beating Khan. My understanding is that if he took the Khan fight then he would get less than if he saw out the last fight of his contract fighting someone else and found a new promoter for the Khan fight. If he would have beat Khan he could have got so much recognition as the Americans really rate Khan and Bradley would have been in with a chance of landing a fight with one of the big names at Welter. Sure he would get less in the Khan fight originally but the long term gain for winning would be more than worth it and I think if he was that confident of winning he should have took it.

I said the same last week and got an earful for it. I called him a wimp as well, which was harsh.

If you don't fight, you lose your belt. Seems like a good call to me.

ian_jamsie wrote:I said the same last week and got an earful for it. I called him a wimp as well, which was harsh.

If you don't fight, you lose your belt. Seems like a good call to me.

Bit ridiculous to call a guy a wimp who has taken on Witter, Holt and Alexander - which is probably better than Khan's 140 resume of Kotelnik, Maidana and Judah.

He's been clear on when he wants to beat Khan as well - he called Khan out first. He's miscalculated with his promoter in epic fashion and no-one seems to be coming in for him to save him. Would have been easier to have taken the fight.

oxring wrote:

ian_jamsie wrote:I said the same last week and got an earful for it. I called him a wimp as well, which was harsh.

If you don't fight, you lose your belt. Seems like a good call to me.

Bit ridiculous to call a guy a wimp who has taken on Witter, Holt and Alexander - which is probably better than Khan's 140 resume of Kotelnik, Maidana and Judah.

Not sure how much better that cv is in fairness, maidana is a more dangerous opponent (esp for khan with the questions over his chin) than Witter (tho fair play to Bradley for coming over here for the fight) and Alexander has been exposed as a bit of a hype job. Again respect for the Witter fight but his performance, or lack thereof, and cry-baby excuses against Bradley followed by a lacklustre controversial win against Kotelnik who is on khan's cv (except totally dominated and outclassed by Khan) suggest that it's only Holt that's better than (the current) Judah.

Therefore on those cv's, I'd have it 2-1 in Khan's favour. Question is, is it worth Khan waiting to move up to really clear out the LWW division e.g. the Alexander fight and maybe Guerrero (a fight I'd like to see) or should he go straight up to 147 either following the Bradley fight or chasing him there for it?

Or we look at things a different way and say that Holt was a more proven fighter than Maidana - who has since been exposed by Morales. We point out that Witter was more of a threat than the ancient Judah and that Alexander a better boxer than Kotelnik. As shown by Alexander beating Kotelnik, even though it was close.

The 3 were unanimously regarded as the second/third best in the division at the time when Bradley fought them. Kotelnik, Maidana and Judah were not seen such.

Looking at things that way - it becomes 3-0 Bradley. Don't get me wrong - I don't think the difference is massive - but Bradley does edge it.

Khan waits for Morales to win at LWW - then gives Morales a pasting and gets his shot at Floyd in March/May 2012.

Oxy if we use the Alexander/Kotelnik fight as a measure of the two then i'm sorry but Kotelnik comes out as clearly the better fighter, it wasn't even close, 116-112 AK.

Witter was more ancient than Judah as well

For me it's Khan 2-1

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/

It's such a dodgy situation, they just want to gift the Mexican Morales another world title which will just result in him being a lamb to the slaughter if he faces Khan, sad state of affairs all round.

personally i hope they dont give it morales, then he will go ahead with the crolla fight, which would be much more entertaining

oxring wrote:

ian_jamsie wrote:I said the same last week and got an earful for it. I called him a wimp as well, which was harsh.

If you don't fight, you lose your belt. Seems like a good call to me.

Bit ridiculous to call a guy a wimp who has taken on Witter, Holt and Alexander - which is probably better than Khan's 140 resume of Kotelnik, Maidana and Judah.

He's been clear on when he wants to beat Khan as well - he called Khan out first. He's miscalculated with his promoter in epic fashion and no-one seems to be coming in for him to save him. Would have been easier to have taken the fight.

He was still going to be paid a million quid. Hardley chump change.

His arguement was with his own management nothing to do with Khan. He is also on record talking about losing to Khan, in a "pick em" fight how often does that happen before? He bottled it.

By what break in logic does the belt go to Morales anyway? He's beaten Limond and Lorenzo at light welter and was beaten in his last fight against Maidana.

The whole thing stinks. Bradley was trying to get a big pay day against Pacquiao which didn't happen but I don't see how he's ducking. Didn't he have an HBO contract he was going to finish for garaunteed money before facing Kahn? So he gets stripped but he didn't avoid any mandatory challengers did he? So Bradley gets striped for alleged ducking of a guy who's just had a fight, to give the belt to a guy who lost his last fight and has never beaten a top ten light welter.

The Flip?

Not sure he "bottled it". Khan hardly more scary than Holt. He called Khan out straight away after the Alexander fight and had called him out before - ever since Khan moved up.

It is not Khan's fault that Bradley is arguing with his promoter and Khan has handled the situation quite well. He is free to beat Morales, become the "undisputed champion" and move on to pastures new at 147. Meanwhile Bradley is left looking foolish.

@Ghosty
Witter was coming off his career best win and that was meant to be his coming out party to the US audience. Bradley was supposed to lose that fight, but unfortunately for Witter, he hadn't read the script. Judah is coming off beating no-one well for quite a while - then looking good in beating Mabuza. Witter was a more impressive win, considering the circumstances.

And @Wayne - yep, agree entirely. Along as the belt stays in Mexico though, Don Jose (corrupt SOB) will stay happy.

Doesn't Mexico hate Amir enough after Barrera?

Difference for me is that Judah was at some point at least somebody whereas Witter has never really been anyone, more famous for calling out Hatton then any one victory, for Witters victory over Harris we could take into account Malignaggis victory over Diaz.

Personally think that Khans 5 top ten ranked opposition is to a man better than Bradleys, the Alexander victory is tarnished by the fights both before and after where he to me clearly lost to both Kotelnik and Matthyse, which could of course be thrown at Judah for his 'victory' over Matthyse as well.

I do feel sorry for the argentine has lost his two biggest fights but deserved the nod comfortably in both.

thing is even if khan waits around to fight morales (should he win) for the WBC title, then bradley will still have the WBO title, therefore not truely unifying the titles, and the other title is still with the only man at the weight that people consider a decent test for khan. the HBO deal wasnt a fight any chump you want and we pay you a million pounds deal, it was on the understanding that the fighters would have to be approved by HBO and had to be of decent ability, khan was the only one left and bradley refused to fight him... he should get stripped, the WBO should strip him as well

The HBO deal was an "approved" fighters deal - which would mean that Judah would have been good enough for Bradley as well then given they deemed it an acceptable fight for Khan. Khan wasn't the only one left.

He hasn't missed a mandatory - it stinks to strip him really.

If the situation was the other way around - people wouldn't be tearing into Khan on here.

The WBC have stripped him in the past as well haven't they after he unified the WBO against Holt as well as the IBF not allowing him to win their title against Alexander he's one unlucky bloke.

i think its okay to strip him, just not to hand the title over to the winner or morale's fight- he is locked in legal proceedings, he has claimed he wants to move up a weight, he hasnt made any attempts at securing a fight (against khan or anyone else), and apparently has been ignoring the WBC. they havent stripped him straight off anyway, he is "champion in recess"- meaning as soon as he comes back he can challenge the winner. my opinion is if you own 2 of the 4 belts you should make your intentions clear and your current position, whether you are going to fight or not- and if you dont you cannot expect to just be left to your own devices, as the champion you should be avalible to fight all challengers.

That's the whole reason why you get set a limit for a mandatory defence, have never heard of a fighter being stripped of his title for having a voluntary defence.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:That's the whole reason why you get set a limit for a mandatory defence, have never heard of a fighter being stripped of his title for having a voluntary defence.

Likewise.

He's made his positions clear enough - he's not doing anything until he resolves his dispute with his promoter/manager. He wants Pacquiao at 147 - he's also made that clear. WBC don't like Bradley - they've made that clear in the past.

i'd class him as unable to fight due to legal proceedings, therefore he shouldn't be able to keep the belts- champion in waiting seems fair, he can fight the winner whenever he wishes (abit like the super champions ability to fight the regular champion whenever he wishes). i just dont think the WBC or the WBO should make it easy for a fighter to blatently avoid the one true challenge, that all the fans want to see.

i see your point, i know the WBC havent done this out of some moral code, just to earn yet more money on sanctioning fee's- but if bradley feels hard done to then tough- take the fight and solve all the problems in one go. fight khan for the WBO, IBF, and WBA titles and relinquish the WBC title, khan would still take the fight and then he gets his own back at the WBC, but no- he wouldnt do that because he wont fight khan.

6 months though Eddy? That's a bit extreme. You get fighter who fight only 9 months anyway. p4p fighters like Floyd who fight only every 18 months.

Taking the fight doesn't solve his problems - he still loses a lot of dosh to a promoter he objects to and doesn't want. Essentially - he couldn't sell a fight in his back yard and for a man of his talents that's a disgrace.

So I understand why he wants to move on to a new promotion team - like everyone else has said - he's badly miscalculated.

yeah but it is short term greed as opposed to long term planning. he wants to take an easy fight with the current guys and HBO, then go get big bucks for khan or pacquioa- with another promoter. HBO took on a guy in a 5 fight deal, who couldnt sell out a park bench- with the intention of beating the best in the divison. its come to the situation where khan bradley is the only viable fight, he was offered over a million, close to two from some sources for his last fight and he wants an easy night. just the exposure from fighting khan would boost his profile and future earning and if he won he would no doubt get his shot at mayweather or pacquiao, which after completing his contractual obligations he would have been free to persue with another promotor, probably arum. instead he has put a holt on the division. 6 months is a bit much, but nothing new, donaire was in the same situation and its happened before. plus lets be honest how long is it going to be till he's actually in a ring again?

You'd be stripping an awful lot of fighters of their titles if you think 6 months is the minimum, he gets 9 months to make a mandatory defence until those 9 months are up I don't see why he should be stripped.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:You'd be stripping an awful lot of fighters of their titles if you think 6 months is the minimum, he gets 9 months to make a mandatory defence until those 9 months are up I don't see why he should be stripped.

Yep. But never mind - as it stands those 9 months look set to come and go so he may well be stripped of everything.

i can see ya point, and it is a solid argument, he still has 3 months left, but with his obvious lack of passion at proving anything else at 140, i dont see the point in keeping him as champion. especially when the situation is at least partly his own doing. morales (legend that he is) doesnt deserve the chance though.

Why has Marquez not been stripped of his titles or how about, Pacquiao went over a year without defending his 147lb title or is the truth closer to the fact that Bradley isn't very high profile so is an easy target.

but to me there is no real doubt manny or jmm is the man at the weight, bradley has a obvious challenge that is staring him in the face, its a different situation

It's not a different situation as Khan isn't ranked by either the WBC or WBO so it's not in their jurisdiction to say Bradley must fight him. Would dispute saying Pacquiao is the man when there's been a certain Floyd Mayweather floating about nor can Marquez categorically say that when Guerrero, Rios and Soto all hold versions of a world title.

yeah but the mayweather is a no go zone, and dont see those guys winning jmm just yet- and i definetly wouldnt put them favourites (as i would for khan/bradley). it is a bit hypocritical doing it to bradley and if he was a huge pull it wouldnt happen i know- but i really have little sympathy for bradley, he's dug his own grave, now he will have to lay in it

Do we strip every fighter who doesn't face their nearest rival, may as well strip both the K bros because they wont face eachother and if we're stripping Bradley then Pacquiao should be stripped too.

i think pac man should have been stripped a few times, you shouldnt just be able to come to a weight, get a title fight and then not bother with the division for how ever long. wlad and vitali are different, brothers is a valid excuse for not fighting, i wouldnt fight my brothers on a world stage and i wouldnt expect anyone else to.

They are eachothers biggest challenge but should we make allowances because of personal reasons I would say no myself.