August 1st,

NATE CAMPBELL vs TIMOTHY BRADLEY - "1" (?)

When ESPN picked up the initial Gatti-Ward showdown, the few boxing insiders who actually knew who the combatants were also knew this match-up had great potential to be a war for the ages. 
 
As promoters salivated upon pitting them upon one another two more times, nothing quite compared to Gatti-Ward I.  In the end, each fighter, regardless of the myriad of punches thrown and landed throughout their brutal careers on nearly 100 (combined) opponents, will historically be linked to this particular trilogy.
 
It's kind of hard to believe that their first fight was over seven years ago.
 
In modern times however, a match-up is in our immediate midst which could carry very similar  -if not the same bravado.  I'm talking about the August 1st match-up between "Desert Storm" Tim Bradley 24-0 (11 KOs) vs. "Galaxxy Warrior" Nate Campbell 33-5 (25 KOs).
 
TIM BRADLEY:  Has yet to lose.  In fact, if you discard his split decision victory in the UK over their hometown hero, Junior Witter ~ Bradley has won by a unanimous count or by KO all of his fights. 
His last two unanimous decisions over Kendall Holt and Edner Cherry only confirmed what we already knew. Bradley is a bad man.  His stay-busy style and fast hands remind us of a younger, slicker Shane Mosley.
 
NATE CAMPBELL:  Has won five fights in a row versus opposition whose combined record adds up to 154 victories and 17 losses. 
Campbell shocked the boxing world last year when he cleverly outgunned and out-boxed then undefeated Juan "The Baby Bull" Diaz in a bout that everyone in boxing predicted he'd lose.  To make sure we weren't seeing things, Campbell came right back and pounded out an upset victory over the tall and lanky Zahir  Raheem, conqueror of Ali Funeka.  Campbell is all fight!
 
If all goes as I suspect, August 1st could be the beginning of something beautiful....
 
 

-Ricky Ray Taylor-
www.BoxerDRILLZ.com