Chat with Timothy Bradley

Welcome to SportsNation! On Wednesday, we're going inside the boxing ring when Timothy Bradley stops by to chat about his win over Ruslan Provodnikov last Saturday to retain his welterweight title. He will be joined by his trainer Joel Diaz.
Bradley (30-0, 12 KO) defeated Provodnikov via 12 round unanimous decision, keeping his WBO welterweight belt. It marked his second straight win at welterweight, coming on the heels of his controversial decision over Manny Pacquiao in June 2012.
HBO will replay the Bradley-Provodnikov fight on Sunday at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT.
Send your questions now and join Bradley Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET!
More Special Guests: Previous chats | SportsNation
Buzzmaster (1:59 PM)
We've got Timothy!
Alec (Nashville)
Who hits harder? Provodnikov or Kendall Holt?
Timothy Bradley (2:00 PM)
Definitely Provodnikov. He can hit pretty hard. Kendall Holt can punch, but this guy every time he hit me, he rattled me.
Alec (Nashville)
So do you have a concussion? And when can we expect to see you back in action? I for one would like to see you a bit more active.
Timothy Bradley (2:01 PM)
The medical reports came back. I did a CT Scan. They came back negative. One of the doctors said I had a mild concussion. I do have one at the moment.
Dimas (New York)
Great fight last weekend, Champ. I hope you're OK. What, if anything, did you learn from that war with Provodinkov?
Timothy Bradley (2:02 PM)
I learned that I have to work on my defense. I have to work on my defense. I learned that I am my own worst enemy. Standing there and trading with a big puncher was an idiotic move. I really don't know what I did it, I really don't. I guess I had to do what I had to do. The gameplan was to box him, but I didn't do it. I wasn't listening to my corner.
Timothy Bradley (2:02 PM)
I have to work on my defense a little more and I'm my own worst enemy.
Timothy Bradley (2:03 PM)
I've always said I'm going out swinging.
Matt (Chicago)
Do you get sick of hearing about the controversy over the Pacquiao decision?
Timothy Bradley (2:03 PM)
Yeah, I get sick of hearing it. It's been almost 10 months since it happened. I don't dwell in the past. I get the same questions all of the time and it's annoying. I just tell them that I'm trying to move on. I wasn't a judge in the fight. I was just doing my job. In my heart I felt I won the fight, so back off.
Zoran (Kitchener, Ontario)
Will you fight again this year?
Timothy Bradley (2:04 PM)
Yeah, absolutely, I will fight again this year. I don't know when or where, but I will fight again.
Chris (Denver)
will you watch the replay of the fight?
Timothy Bradley (2:05 PM)
I've watched the replay every single day. And I have it Tivo'd. I've watched it many times, probably ilke 9 times. I watched it last night at midnight.
Timothy Bradley (2:05 PM)
It was an unbelievable fight, man. A lot of the things that happened I don't even remember.
Jeff (Seattle)
how do you keep sharp when fighting once or twice per year?
Timothy Bradley (2:06 PM)
It's hard to stay sharp and ready when fighting once or twice per year. That's why I'm talking to my promoters and manager to keep me busy. I want to stay in the gym and fight 3 times this year. I want to be sharp and never overweight.
paul ( carlsbad)
do you see a rematch with prodonikov or are you moving on?
Timothy Bradley (2:07 PM)
I really don't know. That's up to my promoter and manager and my team. It's all up to them. I don't care who I fight, when or where. It's all up to them. I will do anything. I'll fight a rematch every day of the week. But I focus on my team, my promoters and manager. If they say they want a rematch then I'll do it.
Chris (Denver)
do you train any differently for a title fight than you would normally?
Timothy Bradley (2:07 PM)
No, I train every single fight like it's my last fight. No different. I'm always hungry. This guy wasn't even known, but he was a beast.
David (LA)
in watching the fight replay, what do you think was the best moment?
Timothy Bradley (2:09 PM)
It was probably in the sixth round when I was out on my feet. I honestly don't understand how I was able to continue on and fight through it. I was rattled and I was out on my feet. I don't even remember getting hyped up and screaming at the end of the round. I don't even remember doing that at all. It was an interesting point of the fight. I thought it showed my character and everything I'm about.
Greg (DC)
When did you think you had the fight won?
Timothy Bradley (2:10 PM)
I never thought I had it won, ever. There was not one point in the fight I thought I had it won. When you're concussed or damaged, you just don't know. I lost track of how many rounds I won and how many I didn't win. That's why I asked my corner if I was winning the fight, so I knew if I had to step it up. I never felt I was winning, I felt I was losing the fight.
Joydeep (Philippines)
Will you be in Las Vegas for the Rio-Alvarado rematch?
Timothy Bradley (2:10 PM)
Yes, I will be there.
Zuad (Berlin)
It was your toughest fight in your career ?
Timothy Bradley (2:10 PM)
Uhh, yeah.
Timothy Bradley (2:11 PM)
I don't think it was the toughest fight, I could have made it easy, but I made it hard for myself. It was an easy fight that I made hard for myself. But definitely the hardest fight in my career. I've never taken this much punishment in my life.
Timothy Bradley (2:12 PM)
To all of the fans out there, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To all of my new fans, this is me. What you see is what you get. I hope you enjoyed the show this past weekend.
Buzzmaster (2:12 PM)
Joel Diaz, Timothy's trainer is here to take questions!
Vinny (Brooklyn)
do you train your fighters any differently for a title fight?
Joel Diaz (2:14 PM)
Every fight we have to train hard. Mentally the training is different, but physically it's the same. We train the same for every fight.
Dave (Chicago)
who would you like tim to fight next?
Joel Diaz (2:15 PM)
I really don't pick fighters. I just train my fighter. The people who have control over it are the promoters. I think Timothy proved enough in this fight that he can step up to another level, like a Marquez, a Mayweather, somebody like that. But at the end of the day, I don't make the deicisions.
Mary (Montreal)
What will you do to improve his defense? How will you work it?
Joel Diaz (2:16 PM)
Timothy has a great defense. He does. What you saw Saturday night, it wasn't a Tim Bradley that walked in with defense, he walked in with heart. He could have made a boring fight, and boxed, but he wanted to give the fans a show. When he gets in there and fights, he was hurt the whole fight. He was fighting with will. It was his heart that kept him on his feet. He has great footwork, great angles. He'll come back in the next camp and we'll do the same thing, work on offense and defense.
Sonny Ill (Seattle)
What did Tim do, that first time you really noticed that it/X factor?
Joel Diaz (2:18 PM)
When I first started with him, I knew he was hungry. He was hungry for success. He wanted to be something in boxing. He had that hunger in him. That will power. It took a while for him to change his style from amateur to pro. He threw a lot of punches. I had to change him. I told him we had to learn a jab. It took him a couple of months. Fight after fight, we made changes and made adjustments. He kept saying he wanted to be world champion. His first fight, we fought on an undercard and he won it via KO. We watched the main event which was a continental title. He said he wanted to fight that guy and I said no, you want to fight for a world title.
Joydeep (Philippines)
Do you think timothy should go back to 140lbs?
Joel Diaz (2:19 PM)
Timothy going back to 140 is more of an advantage. He's a small fighter. He's compact. He should be at 140. I agree with him at 140 and not fighting those big guys. Coming into this last fight, you could tell the difference. But Timothy feels good at 147 and keep him active. Maybe in the future we go back to 140 again.
Chris Tatapa (Los Angeles)
Hey Tim and Joel,How do you train to fight a big puncher like Ruslan? And what do you do to work on defense?
Joel Diaz (2:21 PM)
We had a plan coming into this fight, but it wasn't standing in front of him. I knew he was a strong puncher. Our plan was to move, box him, work angles, a lot of footwork. We worked on jabbing him. My concern was Timothy coming into the ring, and after being attacked by the world after Pacquiao and him going off on his own. Timothy has told me, coach when I do what you say I do well, when I go on my own I get into trouble. In this fight, he did the same thing. He steps up to the level of competition. He went in and got hurt. Ruslan is a tough kid. Timothy could have made it a boring fight, but he decided to exchange.
Henry ( london)
did u expect that sorta fight happening?
Joel Diaz (2:23 PM)
I didn't expect the fight to go the way it went. After the first round, Timothy told me this guy is strong. I told him then why are you standing in front of him. It's hard to stop a guy like that. He's strong, determined. After Timothy got hurt, it was hard to get his defenses back. He fought on will.
Dee (Toronto, Canada)
Joel, congrats on a great win for your fighter. I think Tim pulled out the clear victory by boxing and banking rounds in the middle of the fight. Knowing now how close the fight was on the final scorecards and how much damage tim accumuated, would you guys be interested in a rematch?
Joel Diaz (2:24 PM)
I'm open to rematches. I believe in them. If a guy was good and the people liked what they saw and they want more action, then we're open to it. But the possibility is that you won't see the same fight because we'll be smarter and box more like what you saw in the middle rounds.
Joydeep (Philippines)
Were you mad at timmy after the fight for not listening to your instructions?
Joel Diaz (2:25 PM)
I was always mad. After the first round, coming into the second round, I was mad. He wasn't listening. He was stubborn. I had to yell at him and wake him up. I had to tell him that he was fighting Ruslan's fight. I told him that he has to fight his fight. He has to dance to your rhythm.
Joel Diaz (2:26 PM)
I just want to thank the fans that gave us the support. I hope you enjoyed a great fight. I told a lot of people that you're going to see a different Tim Bradley. He showed a different face on HBO. He really wants to win every time he's in the ring. He has a lot of will and determination to give the people what they want to see.
Buzzmaster (2:26 PM)
Thanks to Timothy and Joel for chatting today!
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