Late Thursday, WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley announced that he had signed a promotional deal with Top Rank, further distancing himself from former co-promoters Gary Shaw and Thompson Boxing.
Bradley, who is currently being sued for breach of contract stemming from his refusal to come to terms with Amir Khan over the summer, has been inactive since decisioning fellow titlist Devon Alexander in January.
With the lawsuit from Shaw and Thompson pending, Bradley will make his Top Rank debut against faded former lightweight champ Joel Casamayor on the Nov. 12 undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
While the Palm Springs, Calif., native cites a desire for a bigger and better promotional push as the reason behind the jump to Bob Arum’s stable, it’s widely felt that the Hall of Fame promoter used a potential big-money fight with Pacquiao as bait to lure the 28-year-old champion away from his previous promotional arrangement.
If all stays true to form, Bradley could get as much as $5-7 million for a future Pacquiao bout, compared to the $1.5 million offered for the Amir Khan clash.
