Former two-division champion Timotht Bradley will take on Diego Chaves on December 13 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas and will be televised on HBO according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“I’m excited to get back into the ring and showcase myself,” Bradley told ESPN.com on Thursday night. “Chaves is not that well known but the boxing fans know him. The boxing fans know that this guy can fight and that it won’t be a walk in the park for me. I think it’s going to be a great fight. I can’t wait.”
“My mindset is I can’t sit here and beat myself up over a loss to Manny Pacquiao,” Bradley said. “He’s one of the greatest fighters of this generation. I can look back and see what I did wrong and say, ‘I shoulda done this or I shoulda done that.’ But I know I’m a world-class fighter.
“I went 24 rounds with Manny Pacquiao, and he never really hurt me. I took Ruslan Provodnikov’s best shots [in a decision win], I took Manny Pacquiao’s best shots, and I took [Juan Manuel] Marquez’s best shots and beat him, too. I know I can take Diego Chaves’ best shots. I know I can hang with the best of them.”
“It’s an interesting fight. We know Tim Bradley is a great fighter, and I think with Rios-Chaves, things got out of hand, but Chaves proved what a worthy warrior he was in the fight,” said Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who represents Bradley. “We made a deal with his people in Argentina. We established a good relationship doing the Rios fight and we were able to make this deal.”
“Thankfully, we’ll have no visa drama this time around, which I think will allow Chaves to give a better performance,” said Top Rank’s Carl Moretti. “Physically and mentally, we all expect to see a better performance. For Tim, well, he’ll be ready as he always is, but I think there’s some pressure on him to perform like he did against Juan Manuel Marquez, not [like he did against] Pacquiao. Given that, I think he will.”
“Chaves is definitely a world-class fighter,” Bradley said. “He showed it when he stepped up against Keith Thurman, who, in my eyes, is also a world-class fighter. Chaves lost that fight but he lost to a helluva fighter. Diego Chaves is no slouch. He is a real fighter and he can slug it out with anyone. A lot of people thought he was winning the Rios fight before the disqualification.
“I’m going to watch the Rios fight but I have seen the fight with Thurman and he has a lot of skills and is a really good puncher. It’s gonna be another tough fight. I think it could be another Provodnikov fight. This is another tough challenge for myself. But I want challenges and I want to fight top fighters and give fans exciting fights. You know me — I’ll fight anyone. Just pay me. I don’t give a crap. Bring it on. They said, ‘Diego Chaves.’ I was like, I’ll fight him. Don’t care. Let’s go.”
