Timothy Bradley, Jr. still has memories of his last fight against Russian Ruslan Provodnikov back in 2013 and will make sure he will be ready for it this time around.
Bradley is set to go up against Jesse Vargas in a couple of weeks and is now employing a different kind of training technique. In a way, he may be taking a page out of Floyd Mayweather’s book who used a Rocky Balboa-inspired training regimen. To be more precise, Bradley is going old school.
Joel Diaz, Bradley’s long-time trainer, stressed that the boxer's training will be unlike before, terming it as a hard camp.
That includes using sledgehammers, medicine balls and swimming, some techniques that call Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) into mind if you think about the Rocky movies. It won’t be surprising if chopping wood will be included soon, something Mayweather showed off before facing Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao. Check out the embeded post from Instagram below.
“We went back to old school training – sledgehammers, medicine balls, swimming,” said Joel Diaz. “This is a hard camp, but we are facing a fighter who hungers to win. But Tim has too much power and more experience than Vargas.”
Fans actually got a glimpse of Bradley’s preparation.
On media day, Bradley was seen pounding away at a large truck tire with a sledgehammer. The regimen is tasked to give Bradley more power heading into his fight with Vargas.
Bradley is not taking Vargas lightly. He and his team know for a fact that Vargas is hungry and that accounts for something dangerous up ahead if Bradley does not train properly and becomes prepared. Aside from that, it is obvious that Bradley will be looking for a knockout against Vargas.
“I want to be strong and get a decisive win over Vargas, like knock him out and put him to sleep. I know he’s going to have a will to win, but I am generating more power in camp” Bradley was quoted as saying during the media day event.
Aside from old school training, there has been a change as well in Bradley’s diet.
He is no longer under the Vegan diet he followed and has been eating fish, chicken and steak once a week to build up his strength and power.
Heading into the 12-round welterweight fight which takes place on June 27 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, Bradley is confident he will come out and triumph over Vargas.
“I want to be strong and get a decisive win over Vargas, like knock him out and put him to sleep. I know he’s going to have a will to win, but I am generating more power in camp” Bradley added at the media event.
Bradley is looking to get back on track and Vargas is the first step towards that direction.
But Vargas is unlikely to lie down and die. Vargas holds a 26-0 record a rising and undefeated fighter who has been known for his relentless jabs and pressure but is most of all, hungry.
Bradley knows that fighters like Vargas are dangerous and hence would require him to face him with caution.
"Vargas is a good, little fighter," Bradley told ESPN.com. "He's a world champion, and he has to be respected”.