WORLD Boxing Organization welterweight champion Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley has opted to relinquish his title as part of the price he is willing to pay for a third encounter with eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao.
The fight with the Filipino icon is expected to enhance Bradley’s career legacy and a lucrative payday that comes with the decision.
Managing Editor Jake Donovan of Boxing Scene reported that when Pacquiao and Bradley meet at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 9, they would know the winner of the showdown between Sadam Ali and Jessie Vargas, which takes place at the DC Armory in Washington D.C. on March 5.
Donovan said Sadam Ali emerged as the mandatory challenger to the vacant interim title Bradley acquired in a 12-round unanimous decision win over Vargas last June.
The title was upgraded to full championship status once the WBO stripped Floyd Mayweather —a mere formality as the former unbeaten pound-for-pound king ultimately retired last September —but also came with the condition that the mandatory defense would have to be honored at some point.
Bradley went ahead with a defense against Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios in which he scored a ninth-round knockout in their HBO-televised title fight last November in Las Vegas. Bradley was well aware of Ali being due for a title shot, when Pacquiao and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum chose him to face Pacquiao in a trilogy.
Explaining his decision in a notarized letter to WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel, Bradley said: “As you know, I will be fighting Manny Pacquiao on April 9, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. To accept this fight invariably means I cannot comply with my mandatory obligation and must forgo the mandatory (challenge) against Sadam Ali, as ordered by the WBO.”