By Andrew Wake May 9th, 2008 All Boxing Previews
American box-puncher Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley could never be accused of lacking confidence. The 24 year old light-welterweight from Palm Springs, California, may never have fought outside of his home state, let alone his home country, but he is confident that he will take possession of the WBC title in Nottingham, England, this weekend when he tackles champion Junior “The Hitter” Witter at the Trent FM Arena.
Bradley, 21 – 0 (11), has certainly been talking a good game in the run up to this fight, stating his intentions are to unify the division after beating Witter and going onto say he intends to become a ring legend like Ali, Leonard and Robinson but, the truth is, on the evidence of the names on their resumes, this Saturday’s combatants are worlds apart.
Before winning his title, Junior Witter had been a British, Commonwealth and European champion. Add that detail to the fact that the Bradford trickster has defeated four world titlists and you have a very accomplished 140 pounder.
Bradley, on the other hand, has not really fought anyone of note, with almost 50% of his victories coming against pugs with losing records and the rest made up of lowly rated fighters floating around the southern California club scene, so a win on away turf and in a clash of this magnitude looks an extremely tall order.
Despite this, Bradley should not be taken lightly. He has decent speed and can dig, eight of his eleven knockout victims not making it past the fifth, and Witter is not a fighter known for keeping his chin well guarded.
If the Bradford native comes into this bout looking at it as merely a stepping stone in this quest for a battle with Ricky Hatton, then he could be made to pay.
One similarity between the two combatants is that they are both returning to the squared circle on the back of lengthy lay offs (8 months for Witter and 10 for Bradley) and it will be interesting to see how they shake off the proverbial rust. More...
