By Ricardo Lois

Palm Springs, California’s baddest boxing hombre Timothy Bradley might be in line to face boxing’s best fighter.

Bradley, who is the World Boxing Organization light welterweight title holder and one of the best fighters at 140 pounds, was recently mentioned as a possible foe by pound for pound best fighter Manny Pacquaio’s promoter Bob Arum.

During a Sunday night visit to The Boxing Truth Radio, Arum was discussing Pacquiao’s future fights and the possibility of the Filipino star moving back down to 140 pounds after he matches up against Joshua Clottey at 147 pounds on March 13, 2010 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“A kid like Bradley, who he’ll [Pacquiao] probably end up fighting down the road, he’ll fight him at a 140 pounds, easy,” said Arum.
Must have been music to the ears of Bradley, who has had one of the best 2009 campaigns in boxing. “The Desert Storm” fought three times during the past year and walked away with two wins against fellow title holder Kendall Holt and previously undefeated Lamont Peterson. Bradley also notched a no-content against crafty veteran Nate Campbell, after Campbell suffered a nasty cut which caused the fight to be stopped following the third round. For the record, Bradley was controlling Campbell easily and looked to be en route to an impressive win.

It has not been a silver spooned ride to the top for Bradley, who did not sign a multi-thousand dollar contact when he turned professional or has had the extensive television coverage that many of the games so-called top prospects receive. Turning professional in 2004, Timothy fought at local Southern California shows under the guidance of promoter Ken Thompson.

Bradley’s skill and professional was noticed by the larger boxing public when he traveled to England in 2008 to defeat Junior Witter via split decision in his home land. By then promoter Gary Shaw has signed a deal to co-promote Bradley along with Thompson and has been able to feature Bradley on Showtime several times.

Though nothing is set in stone for a bout with Pacquiao, it must have brought a smile to Bradley’s face that his abilities have been noticed by one of boxing’s biggest promoters and he is being considered for a crack at Pacquiao in the near future.

Of course, there will be the cynics that will claim that Bradley will get a shot because he is managed by Cameron Duncan - a fight manager with close ties to Arum’s promotional firm Top Rank. Duncan also manages other Top Rank standouts middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and super flyweight Nonito Donaire.

Regardless of the reason, Bradley’s mention by Arum was well deserved.
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