By Norm Frauenheim-
It’s still very much a puzzle, yet the face of boxing in the post Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao era is falling together, piece by haphazard piece, in a process that continues on November 7 with Timothy Bradley-versus-Brandon Rios at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center.
At a gut level, Bradley-Rios is the best since the search began in the wake of Mayweather’s possible retirement and Pacquiao’s announcement that he’ll fight in April for the last time. Truth is, it doesn’t matter if either or both ever fight again. As the business bids an overdue goodbye, the business re-sets the table while Mayweather re-stocks the garage with Bugatis and Congressman Pacquiao campaigns for a seat in the Filipino Senate.
Over the last few weeks, middleweight Gennady Golovkin and flyweight Roman Gonzales did what they had to in New York. Junior-welterweight Terence Crawford held up his end of the bargain in Omaha. All three looked spectacular in scoring stoppages over opponents few will remember for long.
Did anyone expect anything less? Without that mandatory spectacular, there would have been a lot of gloom-and-doom anguish about what’s next. So far, Golovkin, Gonzalez and Crawford are. The Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez 155-pound winner on Nov. 21 will join them.
But there is no business without a B-side, and the first of those will emerge from Bradley-Rios, a 147-pound fight with high stakes and loaded with stories on all sides. It’s intriguing because both are fighting to stay in line for a major payday. Unlike any other of the aforementioned fights, however, this one is hard to pick.
Rios is fighting for the first time in nearly a year. In his last outing, he scored a stoppage last January of rival Mike Alvarado. But the victory was hard to judge, mostly because Alvarado wasn’t in great condition and seemingly distracted.
Over the idle months, Rios grew impatient. He’s restless and sounds as if he can’t wait to expend some pent-up energy. Or is that frustration? It’s just a guess, but the layoff might have been a blessing in disguise for a 29-year-old welterweight who loves to brawl. It saved him for what promises to be more rounds of attrition in a career full of it. Rios knows no other way. It’s risky. It’s also why fans love him.
Then, there’s Bradley, one of the game’s acknowledged good guys, yet also surrounded by surprising questions. He dumped his only pro trainer Joel Diaz, for Teddy Atlas. It’s a move that makes you wonder how he’ll react with a new face and voice in his corner.
Often, it takes time to develop a personal chemistry between fighter and trainer. Adversity is the only true test. But there’ll be no test drive, not against Rios, an instinctive brawler. Bradley has shown he can withstand the punishing attack promised by Rios. He survived Ruslan Provodnikov in the 2013 Fight of the Year.
But Diaz was there for Provodnikov. If the Rios fight turns into a battle similar to the Provodnikov bout, how would Bradley react stagger between desperate late rounds when he see Atlas instead of Diaz. Who knows?
At 32 and in the last stages of his career, the move to Atlas appears to be a business decision, crafted in part by Bradley’s wife and manager, Monica, who – in an ever-thickening plot — replaced Cameron Dunkin. Dunkin? You guessed it. He is Rios’ manager.
In Atlas, Bradley has a longtime corner man and a successful ESPN ringside analyst. Bradley is trying to move into the broadcasting end of the business himself. He’s working as fledgling analyst for truTV. In Atlas, there are worldwide contacts and world-class experience. But there’s no guarantee of familiarity achieved only amid the chaos of a wild fight.
For now, a wild one is the only good bet.
