IN MAY, TYSON FURY LOST FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS CAREER WHEN HE SNTS LOSS TO OLEKSANDR USYK. NOW, AHEAD OF THEIR COLOSSAL REMATCH, “THE GYPSY KING” PROMISES A VERY DIFFERENT APPROACH TO BUSINESS By Tom Gray BEHIND ENEMY LINES IN THIS NEW SERIES, FIGHTERS SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH PLYING THEIR TRADE AWAY FROM HOME – BOTH THE GOOD AND THE BAD. By Anson Wainwright
TIM BRADLEY VS. JUNIOR WITTER, May 10, 2008, Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England • Title: WBC junior welterweight
T
im Bradley toiled in near-anonymity for the first couple of years in his career, never fighting outside of Southern California and only on club-level developmental shows. Eventually, he was given the
“We trained a few days and had a WBC [weight check] three days before the fight. I knew what I weighed, because I would always bring my scales with me everywhere I went, because I didn’t trust anybody else’s scales. The promoter brought scales in. I had just got done training. I checked my weight beforehand; I knew what I weighed and I got on the scale. I was like, ‘This is unbelievable,’ everybody looking all frantic, like, ‘You’re overweight. He didn’t even make the three-day weight limit.’ I’m saying, ‘That’s wrong.’ Joel went downstairs to the weight room, he grabbed a 25-pound dumbbell and brought it to the scale. He brought my scale, the gym scale and the supposed official scale that just got calibrated. He puts the 25-pound on the official scale, and I believe it was 2.2 pounds over; it was like 27.2 pounds. He put it on my scale and it was 25 pounds, and the gym scale was off by a pound. We told them, ‘Your scale is wrong; you need to get that calibrated.’ We came to the conclusion, being from overseas, they were just trying to weight-drain me. We used everything that happened negative to our advantage.“ “Desert Storm” was also very deliberate about his sleeping habits. “I didn’t sleep during the night; I would sleep during the day,” he said. “I’ve always noticed that when you fight overseas, you’re always fighting real late at night. I didn’t want to be tired and sluggish at night. It was beneficial.” The American took comfort when he saw the defending champion on fight night. “When I got into the ring, I looked over at Witter. He looked like he was a bit tired. His eyes didn’t look that great. I was wide awake and full of energy and ready to perform.” His dedication and preparation paid dividends during a close- run fight. “After the fifth round, you hear my trainer say, ‘It’s time to turn it up. Loop the overhand right over the top. He’s there to be hit,’” said Bradley. “I knew I had to do something dramatic. I knew the first six were very, very close. Once we scored the knockdown [in Round 6], my morale and confidence went up. I went on the attack and backed him up. I pushed the pace. I wanted to show the judges I was in charge.” Bradley made the most of his opportunity, taking over in the second half of the fight to win by 12-round split decision. “I had pizza as a celebration meal after the victory,” he said. “That was the birth of my professional career. That put the whole boxing world on notice. That was a belt I chased my whole career. That was instant gratification for me.”
opportunity to face former Ring Magazine lightweight champ Jose Luis Castillo as chief support to Juan Diaz-Nate Campbell in March 2008. However, Castillo missed weight and the fight was called off. It turned out to be a watershed moment. Then-WBC President Jose Sulaiman recognized Bradley’s efforts, and just two months later, the Californian was heading to Nottingham, England, to face WBC 140-pound titlist Junior Witter. “I always had my eye on every fighter who was from 135 to 147 pounds,” Bradley told The Ring. “I studied the game. I watched Junior Witter late at night just to find a weakness, because I knew someday I was going to face him. And I did that for a year straight. I drove my wife mad, because she would wake up and I’m up at 3 a.m. watching Junior Witter fight. “It wasn’t for a while before I really found a weakness. He was a tricky fighter. He was a switch-hitter; he had power in both hands. He had really good speed. He had great reflexes. He threw punches at the oddest angles – he was very creative with his offense. I came up with a game plan, and I wanted to turn it on in the second half. I noticed Witter faded late in the second half of fights.” Bradley’s preparation didn’t stop there. “I’m a planner. I do my investigating beforehand,” he said. “I see if there’s any altitude. I check the temperature to see if I need some warm clothing, especially to make weight. If it’s cold, I bring extra warm clothes. If I struggle to make weight, I need to sweat and have the gear to take care of that. It was May 10. I packed fairly warm, just in case. “If you’re fighting at a certain time, you need to make sure you train at a similar time here in the States. I trained around 4 p.m. because I knew I’d be fighting between 12 a.m.-2 a.m. I planned to stay up all night until early morning, just so my body could be awake around that time.” Bradley and a small, tight-knit team of seven left LAX on Sunday, flew business class and arrived in Heathrow on Monday morning. They were met by a driver who chauffeured them on the two- and-a-half-hour, nearly 130-mile journey north to Nottingham. “I get to the hotel and my room isn’t ready. They gave us the computer room; I slept on the floor for four hours until my room was ready,” he recalled. “I get into my room and the A.C. is broken. It’s hot and they didn’t have any other rooms available. My trainer, Joel Diaz, prepared me for all of this. He said, ‘Whatever happens, smile and be happy.’ When it happened, I laughed.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk and you can follow him on X @AnsonWainwright.
81
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker