Former three-division world champion, and pound-for-pound staple, Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez, will seek a lucrative fourth world title in as many divisions when he faces off against Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley for Bradley’s WBO Welterweight Championship title on Saturday, October 12th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The scheduled 12-round bout will be aired live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
When word floated around that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions had reserved the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the initially proposed date of September 14th(for this fight), Top Rank Promotions founder and President, Bob Arum, made it no secret that they would consider a move to October 12th, should Floyd & Company confirm a fight on the same proposed September date.
Today, Mayweather and Golden Boy announced that Floyd would challenge Saul Alvarez on September 14th, and Top Rank has subsequently, officially, moved Marquez Vs. Bradley to October 12th to avoid any conflict, and ensure that this event will produce its maximum ticket and pay-per-view buys.
The 39-year-old Mexican native, Marquez(55-6-1, 40 KO’s), is coming off by far the greatest win in his career, a 6th-round scintillating one-punch knockout over arch-nemesis Manny Pacquiao on December 8th of last year. Though Marquez fought Pacquiao at the welterweight(147-lb.) limit in that fight(IV), the title at stake was merely a made-up one for the sake of there being a title. This time around, Marquez will fight for a legitimate strap at the weight when he challenges Bradley for the belt that Bradley controversially won from Pacquiao when they fought in June of last year, which resulted in a unanimous decision win for Bradley.
As for the 29-year-old Bradley(30-0, 12 KO’s), a native of Cathedral City, California, he is coming off an explosive back-and-forth 12-round war with Ruslan Provodnikov this past March. Although Bradley retained his WBO belt with a unanimous decision win over the tougher than nails Provodnikov, he was badly hurt and knocked down in the 12th round(and referee Pat Russell erroneously miscalled a knock-down in the 1st round as a slip).
Both fighters have agreed to undergo random USADA and VADA-style drug testing for the fight.
TheBoxingTribune.com will keep you further updated on any and all other details as they become available, including undercard information.
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