"I'm starting to come into my own now. I feel like I'm starting to develop at the right time in my career now. I'm 26. I'm still young and I feel like I'm getting a lot more experience now. I feel like I'm in complete control in the ring and I know what I'm doingÂ… Whoever they consider the best at 140, let's do it. I don't shy away from challenges. As you see, the bigger they are and the harder the challenge is, the harder I fight and the better I get in the ring. I don't want to take the easy road. I want to take the hard road from this point on. I don't want easy fights. Let's go straight for the big fights. Let's go after Amir Khan or Ricky Hatton if he wants to get back in the ring. Let's go after Marquez," stated WBO jr. welterweight champion Timothy Bradley as he talked about his future plans after his impressive win over Lamont Peterson. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on a huge win and a great performance. How do you feel man?
TB: I'm at a loss for words man. I went in there and, like my coach told me, just do me. I can't believe it; I got a huge response from the public, all of the analysts at Showtime and from everyone that watched the fight. They couldn't believe it themselves either. They couldn't believe what they were watching.
PC: I think the Witter fight showed that you could fight in a tough environment, the Holt fight showed that you can fight through adversity with the early knockdown and your fight with Peterson showed you are becoming a complete fighter. Do you feel like you are coming into your own as a fighter?
TB: Yeah. I'm starting to come into my own now. I feel like I'm starting to develop at the right time in my career now. I'm 26. I'm still young and I feel like I'm getting a lot more experience now. I feel like I'm in complete control in the ring and I know what I'm doing. My training is going really well and I'm just learning and getting better. I feel great about my performance that night. I feel really good.
PC: I was a little surprised, not much, but a little surprised at how many experts picked Lamont to beat you. Were you surprised at all?
TB: It didn't surprise me at all because I have been the underdog my whole career just about. It's not too many people give me credit for beating guys like Kendall Holt and competing with some of the best guys in the world. Junior Witter was considered the #2 fighter in the world at 140, right behind Ricky Hatton. They didn't give me any credit for beating him over in his country, so it didn't bother me at all. Everybody saw the size difference and most people will lean towards the bigger guy, but they don't know my background. I've been fighting bigger guys my whole life. I'm a nightmare for bigger guys. The bigger they are, the easier they are for me. The smaller they are, its more problems. I like to fight the bigger guys. It takes them a long time to bring their hands back up to their face and I'm quick enough to counter.
PC: When I mention the name Timothy Bradley to people within the sport, the first thing that they say is how hard of a worker you are. Does your training regimen and work ethic make the fights easier for you?
TB: Absolutely. I think the fights are definitely won in the gym. Once you get in great shape physicallyÂ…and I think the mental part is the toughest part because you gotta be mentally tough to get in that ring, but after you get in great physical shape, then you have to work on that mental stage and the mental part will take you through the fight and you will become victorious man. The conditioning part is very important. You gotta come in shape. I worked extremely hard on my conditioning. I run extremely hard 5 days a week, sometimes 6. I put in more miles than anybody, I run more sprints than anybody, I run hills in the sand and I try to just mix it up and keep my body sore and just let it build up towards the end of my training camp.
PC: You also are a very clean eater too man. How much of a role does that play into your camps?
TB: That right there (laughing), a lot of people don't understand it, but that helps me out a lot. I do eat meat, but I don't eat pork when I'm off of training, like after a fight; like now. But I go completely green, vegetarian, soy, tofu and I like to snack on almonds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds to get the protein in me. But a lot of fruits and brown rice; a lot of grains, fruits and vegetables. When you're training, you need about 60 to 65% of complex carbohydrates to give you the energy that you need to fight and to train. When you put all of that protein in your system, you become too acidic. Your body becomes too acidic. That's what happens in most cases when a fighter is dropping weight. They got all of this protein in their bodies and they get sick. Their body is too acidic. You want your body more alkaline because that's when it's at the strongest point; your muscles and everything are rested and you are giving your body that good fuel man and that helps out a lot. I think the battle of nutrition always plays a big factor on who has the most glycogen or glucose stored to put out those 100 punches a round.
PC: Well you definitely have the physical down to a science. Where does your mental toughness come from?
TB: My mental toughness comes from my father when I was a kid. He was one of those guys that pushed me all of the time and wouldn't let me quit. He just always stayed on me 24/7 and always told me that my opponents were training harder than me. He was always getting into my head. When I'm training man, I always have that in my head, like I need to run an extra mile or I need to hit the bag an extra 2 rounds because somebody is training harder than me.
PC: That fight was a closet classic. I think it was highly contested. You guys threw some hard body shots and both of you came to fight. With that being said, was there anything about Lamont that surprised you?
TB: How big his heart was. I felt that he was untested due to his limited opposition, but I did feel that his background would come into affect sooner or later and it absolutely did. He has a warrior mentality and he went into survivor mode and just came out gunning for me. He took chances in the ring and he tried to bounce back. After that 3rd round, something clicked in him, he became more aggressive and he started going to the body more and he became hungrier. He fought all the way through like that for 12 rounds. That tells you a lot about Lamont's heart, his determination and his will. He has a huge will.
PC: The knockdown definitely seemed to wake him up for sure.
TB: Yeah, definitely. I think he felt that he was down in the fight, especially after that round. I'm sure he knew that would be a 10-8 round for me and that was 2 rounds in the books for me and he felt he needed to bounce back by being more aggressive and taking more chances and landing a big shot to either hurt me or win rounds.
PC: The 140-pound division is getting interesting. When would you like to fight again and is there anyone in particular that you would like to fight?
TB: All options are open pretty much. I'm willing to fight the best fighters in the world. Whoever they consider the best at 140, let's do it. I don't shy away from challenges. As you see, the bigger they are and the harder the challenge is, the harder I fight and the better I get in the ring. I don't want to take the easy road. I want to take the hard road from this point on. I don't want easy fights. Let's go straight for the big fights. Let's go after Amir Khan or Ricky Hatton if he wants to get back in the ring. Let's go after Marquez. I'm not thinking about Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao right now. They are chasing dollars right now. They are in their own little world, so I'm going to let them do what they want to do and if they want to fight, we can do that too, but I doubt it right now. I doubt if they want to fight me right now.
PC: Thanks for your time again Timothy. I think the Peterson fight was by far your best performance to date. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
TB: I just want to thank God for everything; everything, my family, my promoters, my manager and all of my fans out there that believe in me and continue to have my back because I appreciate that. I appreciate all of the love and God bless everybody and Merry Christmas to everybody. I want to thank you for having me for this interview.
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