Timothy Bradley looks to resume winning ways against Chaves
After he lost for the first time in his career, to Manny Pacquiao in their rematch in April, Timothy Bradley wasn't sure how he would react to not having his hand raised.
No need to worry. Bradley, 31, seems to have come out of it much better than he did after defeating Pacquiao in their controversial first fight in June 2012.
In fact, the former two-division world champion says he learned more from losing than winning.
"The thing is, you learn from losing battles. You learn a lot about yourself," Bradley said. "And I learned a lot more while losing than I did by winning. I definitely want to get this win, I am going to get this win against a tough guy like Diego Chaves."
Bradley (31-1, 12 KOs) will meet Chaves, the Argentine knockout artist (23-2, 19 KOs), Saturday at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in a 12-round non-title welterweight showdown (HBO, 10 p.m. ET).
Bradley's trainer, Joel Diaz, said his fighter has not lost the spark that has been his longtime trademark, something that happened after his victory against Pacquiao. After being criticized by the media and fans who said he lost that fight, he fell into a deep depression under what he called a "black cloud." He said he even had thoughts of suicide.
"After the (Pacquiao) loss, Tim came back to the gym and his main focus was getting the title back," Diaz said. "He told me, 'Coach I am going to be world champion again.' You don't see a lot of fighters like that. A lot of fighters, when they come back after a defeat, you don't see the spark any more. Tim has not lost the spark.
"I know Diego Chaves. I was there when he fought (and lost by 10th-round TKO) Keith Thurman. He's a tough opponent. He comes to give Timmy a hard night, but we prepare ourselves for the toughest fight. We prepared for this fight like it was the Pacquiao fight and Tim has no doubt in his mind. ... We are thinking about finishing the year with a spectacular win."
Chaves, 28, has lost two of his last three fights, the most recent being a disqualification against Brandon Rios, after he threw an intentional elbow to Rios' face. He also lost points for holding and head-butting.
Bradley is prepared for a rough fight against Chaves.
"He is a dirty fighter," Bradley said during a recent conference call with reporters. "In the beginning I didn't think he was but then I went back and watched some film on him and he is a really dirty fighter. Throwing elbows and trying to scrape the eyes, rake the eyes with his gloves. Pushing down on the head. He has a lot of dirty tactics.
"But guess what? He hates being hit to the body. So when I get close on him I expect the roughhouse tactics. Hopefully we have a great ref in there that is going to take control, warn both fighters and keep control of the action. I am ready for that dirty stuff and I have some dirty tricks of my own and everybody knows what it is, so bring it."
Chaves said he was disappointed by his DQ against Rios.
"I was surprised and hurt when my fight with Rios was stopped," he said. "I really thought Rios was disappointed in the way he fought that night and that really caused all of that commotion. What happened to me that night was very unfair."
He said he does not expect dirty tactics against Bradley.
"Bradley is one of the three best fighters in the world — Pacquiao, Mayweather and Bradley," Chaves said. "To beat Bradley it will take intelligence, movement and hard punches to the body which really bothers him. This fight will be a boxing match and not so rough as the one with Rios, who is very dirty."
The televised undercard includes two championship fights — WBA interim super lightweight champion Mauricio Herrera defends his title against undefeated contender Jose Benavidez, Jr. and Matt Korobov and Andy Lee fight for the vacant WBO middleweight crown.