Timothy Bradley Jr. will defend his Welterweight title against Juan Manuel Marquez on September 14 in Las Vegas, according to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. On Mexican Independence Day weekend, Bradley will defend his 147 pound championship against Marquez. While both fighters have accomplished many great feats in the world of boxing, it may be their ties to Manny Pacquiao that has gained both the largest claim to fame.
Bradley defeated Pacquiao – albeit by a controversial decision – while Marquez was finally able to knock off Pacquiao when the two last fought, in what was their fourth overall meeting against one another.
Marquez will enter this bout looking to become the only fighter in Mexico’s long boxing history to win world titles in five different weight classes. He has already captured titles at featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight.
While nothing has been signed as of yet, the financial terms of the deal do not appear to be an obstacle. As of right now, it seems as if the only thing that could delay this fight is if Floyd Mayweather Jr. decides to fight on the same date.
“If Mayweather is going to fight on Sept. 14, we’ll move our date,” Arum said, according to ESPN. “But this prevents anybody from bait-and-switching us. We talked to the [pay-per-view] industry about it. Nobody is looking to make trouble. We’re just looking to protect our position.
“Marquez and Bradley is a huge fight, especially with Hispanics, so we’d like to do it on Sept. 14. Nobody can say we’re jumping Golden Boy‘s date. We have a date in reserve in case Mayweather fights on Sept. 14, which I don’t believe he will wind up doing. If he doesn’t, we will go on Sept. 14. If [Golden Boy chief executive Richard] Schaefer is going to bait and switch and try to put in some other fight on Sept. 14, he won’t get away with it. But if Mayweather fights then, fine. We’ll move.”
Imagine that? A fight that does not include Mayweather or Pacquiao – neither against each other or fighting separate bouts – can still be altered by the two men who every single boxing fan wants to see in the ring against each other.
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