RANCHO MIRAGE — For several reasons, Cathedral City boxer Timothy Bradley said his bout against Lamont Peterson is a fight he did not want to take.
Bradley has made it public for a long time that he's aiming to fight a Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather for the mega-millions.
Peterson, although the WBO interim champion and top contender, isn't one of those big-name fighters — yet.
Bradley will defend his WBO title against Peterson on Dec. 12 at The Show in the Agua Caliente Casino, Resort and Spa. The fight will be telecast on Showtime. Tickets for the fight went on sale this week.
But Bradley knows that Peterson, a friend since they were teenagers on the U.S. national travel team, is just as dangerous. And for a fight that brings so much risk, there is little reward for Bradley.
“I really didn't want to take this fight, but I had to to keep my title,” the WBO junior welterweight champion (140 pounds) said Tuesday at a news conference to make the official announcement. “I'm fighting this fight because I have to. I want to keep my world title. I want to fight the best fighters in the world. Peterson is a great fighter, one of the best in the world, but there are a couple ahead of him right now.”
Since Bradley became a champion in May of last year, he has backed up his reputations with victories against a deadly Edner Cherry and then beat WBO champion Kendall Holt in a unification bout.
With each victory, Bradley has enhanced his reputation.
Ring Magazine, which ranks the fighters regardless of federations and titles, has Pacquiao as its champion with Bradley the No. 1 contender.
“I feel I'm at this point in my career where every fight is critical,” Bradley said. “A loss to Lamont Peterson, everything I worked for in my career is down the toilet. That's why every fight is critical.”
However, Peterson is the mandatory title defense for Bradley, who already relinquished his WBC title so he could fight Nate Campbell.
“I want to keep my world title,” Bradley said. “I love my WBO title and I have to go through guys like Lamont Peterson to keep my title and get the bigger fights later.”
Bradley's promoter, Gary Shaw, has been working on getting one of the marquee names for his fighter.
“The reality of our business is, we need those fighters to want us. You need Mayweather to want Bradley, you need Pacquiao to want Bradley,” Shaw said. “Timmy knows we're trying to get him the big fights. He's young, he's eager, but he has to be patient.”
(This article is originally posted at mydesert.com)
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