Former welterweight and junior welterweight world champion Timothy Bradley Jr has weighed in on this weekend’s big world title fight between WBO champion Jeff Horn 18-0-1 (12) of Australia and Terence Crawford 32-0 (23) of the United States.
Bradley, who retired from the sport just two years ago, was one ESPN’s ringside commentators for Horn’s dramatic 12-round unanimous decision win over Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia last July.
“I think Horn, being a bigger guy, likes to move in quick, likes to get inside early, likes to work the pace and dictate the pace,” Bradley told News Corp. “I think he’s going to try to close the gap on Terence really. I think he’s going to try to push Terence back.
“I think Terence is going to struggle in the beginning only until he finds his rhythm. Once Terence finds his rhythm, meaning Horn’s rhythm, then I think things will open up and Terence can control the distance from the outside and time Horn as he comes in.”
Bradley believes that Horn will acquit himself well against Crawford, even if he does come up short.
“I think that Horn will put up a good fight, but I think Terence Crawford has too much precision, too much boxing IQ,” he continued. “He’s a great counterpuncher. He can punch in between shots. There are just so many dimensions to him as opposed to a guy like Jeff Horn.”
Bradley is famous for giving Pacquiao his first loss since Erik Morales seven years earlier when he outpointed the Filipino senator by split decision in 2012. Although the result was controversial, it led to two more match-ups with Pacquiao and by the time he hung up his gloves, the American had spent 36 competitive rounds in the ring with the Filipino buzzsaw.
His victory over Pacquiao also happened to take place on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada – the same date and venue for Horn’s world title defence against Crawford.
“I believe that this fight will be a tougher fight than Manny Pacquiao because there is so much more dimensions to Terence Crawford than to Manny Pacquiao,” said Bradley.
“You know what you’re going to get when you fight a guy like Manny Pacquiao. He’s coming to get you. Terence, on the other hand, is multi-dimensional. So he can make adjustments on the fly without his corner even telling him to make adjustments.’’
 of Australia and Terence Crawford 32-0 (23) of the United States.){kind=link}