Timothy Bradley: I’ve been in there with Manny, Floyd was brilliant

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Timothy BradleyFormer WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (31-1-1) was really captivated by what he saw from Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0) in his unanimous decision victory over Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2) in their highly-anticipated fight earlier this month.

Speaking with RingTV.com, Bradley was very impressed with Mayweather’s performance. He was also impressed with the performance from Pacquiao, who he has fought twice, having lost their last encounter in April 2014 following what many thoughts was a controversial victory.

“Look, I’ve been in there with Manny, been there for 24 rounds,” Bradley said. “His power is real. Floyd did exactly what he had to. I thought Floyd was brilliant.”

The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, the most lucrative in the sport’s history, convinced Bradley that Mayweather’s name deserves to be right alongside one of the greatest boxers of all-time, Sugar Ray Leonard.

“He might not be better than the legends, but he deserves to be right alongside them,” Bradley stated about Mayweather’s legacy. “I mean, I think of Sugar Ray Leonard. Sugar Ray and Floyd would have been one hell of a fight. People have got to realize that Floyd is tremendous.”

They may not like him as a person. They may not find his usual banter very appealing, but you have to respect a man who can talk trash the way Mayweather does, and dominate the way he does.

Leonard fought Mayweather’s father and trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., in September 1978, stopping him in the 10th and final round of the fight. Leonard went on to win his first world championship 14 months after the fight took place in a 15th round stoppage of Wilfred Benitez.

In a 2013 interview on ESPN’s First Take, Leonard, when answering a question from Skip Bayless about whether he would have knocked out Floyd Mayweather Jr. if both fighters were in their prime, Leonard stated,

“Yes.”

Personally, I believe Sugar Ray Leonard would have won a fight between the two legends in their prime, but, of course, we’ll never know.