TIMOTHY BRADLEY TALKS DIEGO CHAVES CLASH: "I DON'T SHY AWAY FROM HARD FIGHTS...I'M PREPARED FOR HIS DIRTY ASS"
By Ben Thompson | December 09, 2014
BT: Tim, what's good? How did training camp go?
TB: Fantastic. Man, just working on new things. It's been great, man. I've had a tremendous camp already and I'm just improving, man. Just getting better and getting back to me; getting back to what got me on top and that's my IQ for the sport, my boxing ability, and getting back on it.
BT: You're definitely looking like a beast.
TB: It's just hard work, man. Hard work and dedicating myself, man, and just getting ready. That's what the hard work does, man; just shredding me, man. I'm excited, man. I'm excited about this fight. Diego Chaves, another tough guy. I don't shy away from hard fights. I believe in fighting the best. I believe in going after the best and being the best. Diego Chaves, he's one of those guys that's low on the radar, but all the boxing fans know he can really fight. It's another one of those Provodnikov-type fights, tough, so I'm looking forward to it, man.
BT: Definitely another Provodnikov-type opponent, but I'm sure you're probably planning on making it a different kind of fight than that one.
TB: That's exactly what I mean. They're just on the brink of becoming an A-class fighter. Diego Chaves showed that when he fought Keith Thurman, he did really well until Keith Thurman found that key and opened him up. He was doing well against Rios too, but he just got dirty, man. He's a dirty fighter and got DQ'd for that, but I know he's going to be ready for me. When you fight against the best, you get amped up, and I'm one of the best fightes in the world, so I know he's amped up to try and unseat me.
BT: I can't recall how bad he was with Thurman, but he was definitely dirty with Rios. Are you expecting him to be dirty like that with you as well?
TB: Aw man, I looked at his track record. On the inside, he's real dirty, man. He likes to scrape you with the gloves on your eyes. He tries to rake your face. He tries to push your head down. He does a lot of little dirty things, especially when you start hitting him to the body; he becomes really dirty and starts holding and doing things that'll make you very uncomfortable in the ring, so yeah, he's a dirty fighter, man. I looked at his track record. I thought it was just that fight, but nah, he's dirty, man. We're definitely going to make the ref aware of it. You know, he was trying to poke Rios' eyes out, man. He was trying to scratch his eyeballs out. It was crazy.
BT: That's called veteran tactics (laughing).
TB: That's called dirty tactics (laughing). Veteran tactics my ass. Those are dirty tactics. I'm prepared for his dirty ass. If he's gonna get dirty, I'm prepared. I got a plan for everything he likes to do, so he needs to just recognize and just fight a good fight and don't be dirty in there, man, because you don't want me to get dirty.
BT: When you're preparing for a guy that you know is dirty, do you have to make changes to your own game plan in order to compensate for that?
TB: You gotta prepare for those tactics. You gotta prepare yourself for those tactics, so you just gotta be ready, be on your P's and Q's and know that it's coming. You gotta be able to stay poised and stay relaxed and don't buy into it, man. You gotta let the ref do his job. Stay relaxed in there, but just be aware and protect yourself at the same time.
BT: Often times, fighters say they don't watch any film on their opponent, letting their trainers handle that duty instead. I think you answered this before in one of our past interviews, but you actually do watch film on your opponents, right?
TB: Man, any guy that don't watch film is crazy, man. You gotta watch film on your opponent. That's like evidence, man. In any sport, you gotta watch your opponents weaknesses. You gotta look for weaknesses, you gotta look for strengths, you gotta look for strategy; I mean, there's a lot of different things that you can look for in a boxing match while watching film, dude, and be aware of it. You definitely wanna know what you're going into. If you're going into battle, you want to know what you're up against. If you're not going to watch the tape, you're crazy. That makes no sense. It's like if you're going to race a car, man, you want to know the course. You don't not want to know the course; you don't want no surprises.
BT: You've been in with some big names already. I know you're not overlooking Chaves, but is it difficult to get up for a fight with a lesser known name like that after you've already been in with guys like Pacquiao and Marquez?
TB: No. I mean, different opponents definitely get you fired up. Fighting against Manny Pacquiao or Marquez, that'll get anybody fired up, but I look at opponents differently. I look at Diego as one of those threats as a top fighter because he can really fight. A lot of fans might not really know who he is, but this guy can really fight, man. He lets his hands go, he throws great combinations, double up shots, triple up shots, he has power in both hands; this guy can really, truly fight, dude. He ain't no slouch in the ring. When I take an opponent on that's tough like this, I'm really serious and really focused. The focus is there. If I was fighting against Manny Pacquiao, it's the same type of training. That's what I'm doing right now. I'm training hard, man, getting ready for this big event. I ain't taking him lightly at all, dude.
BT: I know you made a change in your nutrition and ditched the Vegan diet for this fight. Was there a reason why you decided to do that?
TB: It was something that I just wanted to try. I've been getting a lot of injuries lately. I've been suffering from leg injuries. I tore my calf in the second Pacquiao fight, I blew my foot in the first fight; shoulder injuries. It could be from age, but I was thinking maybe I'm not getting enough protein; maybe because I train so hard, maybe I'm not getting enough protein to be able to build and repair my muscles like they're supposed to be. So what I started doing was I started eating fish. I was sticking to the greens and all that and then I started eating fish and stuff and started feeling really good. In training, I was just like, well, it's not too bad, so I just went from there and then I started consuming some turkey and then chicken, and then once a week, I consume a piece of steak because of the B12, so I'm back doing my carnivorous ways, but I probably will be back on that vegan, man. It just depends on how I feel in this fight. I do miss the energy level being a Vegan. I do miss that, man. I have so much energy, I just train non-stop and just keep going, but I feel like I'm better right now because I'm healing up a lot quicker being a non-vegan right now. Just experimenting, man; just testing the waters, seeing if I'm missing out on anything. I know the vegan thing worked before. The Ruslan Provodnikov fight, I was a vegan and I was able to throw close to one thousand punches. I got hurt a couple times in that fight, but the output was still there. The last Manny fight, I felt a little fatigued after the 6th and I was wondering why. I was like, man, why do I feel so fatigued? I know why, because I was putting a lot of energy out, but I was thinking, man, I should've been able to sustain that pace. So just experimenting, man, trying different things, but I might get back on that vegan tip after this fight.
BT: I saw some recent footage of you working out and it seemed like you had a little more pop in your punches on the heavy bag. Do you feel any stronger now that you've changed the diet up?
TB: Um, I felt pretty strong before. You know, in the Pacquiao fight, I was throwing some heavy shots in that fight. I felt like I picked up some power in that fight just by working my core more, man. I started working my core more and doing a lot of twisting to strengthen the core and I felt like my power had definitely risen in that fight. I was able to hurt Manny Pacquiao several times in that fight. I do feel like I definitely am more powerful; I'm shifting more into my shots. I don't think it has anything to do with the food or anything like that. I just think that I'm just working on technique and trying to perfect it and trying to get better at throwing my punches, man, and putting some heat on it.
BT: Knowing that Chaves has been in with Thurman and Rios and knowing how those guys performed against him, are you putting any pressure on yourself to maybe outdo them and look better than they did?
TB: Nah, I never look to the other guy and try to outdo somebody. I tend to my game and what makes me and I just do me in the ring, man. That's the bottom line. I'm just going to do me that night. I got a game plan for the fight and we'll make adjustments as the fight goes on because things happen in the ring, but we're able to make adjustment in the ring. I can brawl, I can fight, in or outside, I can box, so I'll figure it out in there, man, and put on a good showing for the boxing fans that's gonna be watching. I aint' gotta outdo those guys, man. Ain't no competition between me and them. I'm just in competition with myself. I just gotta be the best that I can be, man. I'm one of the top fighters in the world.
BT: I know that that you're putting the Pacquiao chapter behind you, but looking back, is there anything you regret or wish you did differently?
TB: The game plan was to out-box him, but I definitely got away with that, especially during the week of the fight. I really thought about it and thought about it. I was just like, man, there's no way I'm gonna be able to out-box this guy for a second time and get the decision, so I might as well just try and go for the freakin' knockout. That was the thing and that's exactly what happened. I just went in there and I did what I said I was gonna do. I was just going for the knockout, man. For whatever reason, my coach and I, we changed the game plan at the last minute. He was like, "Attack him!" And I was just like, "Alright. I'll go get him." And that's how it goes. But looking back at it, I wish I would've stayed in my element, just actually fought my fight, out-boxed him. I probably would not have injured myself. I probably could've maybe won the fight. Even if they maybe took the fight from me, I probably would've won the fight by outboxing him. I look back at that, but things happen for a reason, man. You know, the fans loved the fight. Fan enjoyed me going after him and trying to get to Pacquiao. I thought it was a good fight, man. I thought it was a good showing.
BT: I know that first Pacquiao fight was weighing on you. Do you feel like that weight's been lifted off of you now and you can get back to fighting the way you want to fight?
TB: Oh yeah. I mean, I don't really think about Pacquiao or anything like that anymore. That's no longer a cloud looming over my head. I'm definitely moving on to bigger and better things and just moving on with my career one step at a time and one fight at a time.
BT: With you moving on now, considering that a lot of guys at 147 are with Al Haymon, which means you might not get a chance to fight them, do you think there's anything left for you to do in the welterweight division?
TB: I mean, um, I mean there's not a whole lot left for me at 147, honestly. I'm thinking about moving up and testing the waters at 54. I honestly am, dude. There's some smaller 154-pounders out there. You got Bundrage out there, you got Miguel Cotto, you got Canelo. These are big fights that's out there and guys that are not necessarily enormous; they're not big, you know what I mean. They got big names, but they're not like big guys, so my next assignment might be something like that in the near future.
BT: It looks like Manny's going back to 140. If that's the case, his WBO title will likely be up for grabs. Obviously Marquez is still looking to pick up another strap in a fifth weight class. If that fight presented itself, would you be up for a rematch with him or are you kind of set on making that move 154?
TB: You know, boxing, there's always the business too, man. It's not only a sport, you know, it's a business at the same time, so I definitely will weigh my options. If something materializes at 147, then why not? Why wouldn't I do that? If Marquez wanna get it on again, we can get it on again, no problem. If Manny Pacquiao vacates the 147-pound championship and Marquez wants to get it on with somebody, then let's do it. He's gonna get that boxing lesson (laughing). He's gonna get that boxing lesson even worse this time because I know him pretty good now (laughing).
BT: Well Tim, I've held you up long enough. Is there anything else you want to say before I let you go?
TB: Like I continue to say over and over again, I will fight anybody, man. If it makes sense, let's do it, man. I'll fight anybody. It don't matter. It don't matter, man. I've accomplished a lot in my career. I'm not gonna sit back and try to hide behind picking this guy and this guy. Nah, man. Fight the best, man. Let's fight the best out there and let's give the fans what they want to see.
Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype
http://fighthype.com/news/article18684.html
http://www.fighthype.com/news/article18718.html
