Tim Bradley on Palm Springs Walk of Stars with Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley
LAS VEGAS – For years, when he was an unknown and largely uncared about boxer with a dream, Timothy Bradley did good deeds in his hometown of Palm Springs, Calif.
He spent time helping out at the Coachella Valley Boys & Girls Club. He coached Pop Warner football. He passed out turkeys to the needy on Thanksgiving.
He regularly gave of himself and his time, even when things were so tight he wasn't sure he'd have enough money to pay the bills.
He once contemplated leaving boxing and getting a full-time job so he would be able to provide for his family and not be so cash-strapped. His wife, Monica, urged him not to give up, and ultimately his boxing dreams came true.
When he became rich and famous, after he won a world title and began to earn seven-figure paychecks, he didn't change. He remained the same humble, approachable, eager-to-help guy that he'd always been.
Last week at a ceremony on Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, a star was laid with Bradley's name on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, joining a list of honorees that includes President Gerald R. Ford, comedian Bob Hope and singer Frank Sinatra. Oh, and you may have heard of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, too, who are among the 377 honored there.
They're all there.
None of those legends deserved the honor any more than the humble boxer who grew up in a rough section of North Palm Springs and always found a way to carry himself with dignity and treat others with respect.
His star refers to him as a boxer and humanitarian, but it will be his acts of kindness that are remembered long after his boxing career is finished.
"Unreal, man," Bradley said effusively. "It's just so unreal. This is all happening to me? This isn't something you can even dream of. It's incredible. I was able to get this star by giving back. I love to help kids and I spent a lot of time out in the community because it's the right thing to do. It has nothing to do with exposure. It had everything to do with making this a better place, man."
Bradley's now a star of the highest order in the boxing world, an icon who has wins over both Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.
He's coming off a loss to Pacquiao, his first in 32 fights, and he'll look to get back on the winning track on Saturday when he meets Diego Chaves in a 12-round welterweight bout in the main event of an HBO-televised card from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Bradley hasn't gotten the kind of appreciation or respect his skills demand largely because he's fought in the shadow of legendary fighters like Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., and he hasn't been one to boast or toot his own horn.
He'll share the spotlight on Saturday, as he's often been forced to do, with rivals Amir Khan and Devon Alexander. They'll fight across the street at the MGM Grand in the main event of a Showtime-televised card.
Bradley has already thoroughly handled Alexander, winning a technical decision in a heavily hyped 2011 bout in Pontiac, Mich., in a battle of then-unbeaten champions.
He agreed to fight Khan, but Khan declined the offer in a move that says a lot about Bradley.
The lack of recognition used to bother Bradley, but he's beyond that now. He knows how good he is and he knows what he's accomplished in this rough and tumble business.
No amount of PR or marketing on behalf of someone else can take that away.
He's even over the horrendous, yes despicable, treatment he received from overzealous Pacquiao fans in the wake of his 2012 victory in Las Vegas over the Filipino superstar.
Most fans and media felt Pacquiao won the fight, but the judges scored it for Bradley. Outraged Pacquiao fans made his life hell, but he's forgiven them and put that sordid era in his past.
It's the kind of man he is, and has always been. He's not one filled with hate or animosity and doesn't view those who abused him with contempt.
"I'm coming into my own and I feel I've grown, not only as a fighter but as a person, as well," Bradley said. "I've gained so many more fans, and so much more exposure, from four years ago, three years ago. I feel like I'm breaking off into my own brand.
"I feel like the Pacquiao thing, what happened, is over. It's done. Am I happy with it? Hey, I got to be happy with it. Hey, I fought Manny Pacquiao, one of the legends in our business, twice. I learned a lot from it, and it's helped me to have this tremendous career. There is no more dark cloud."
Even coming off his first career loss, there is no downside. Pacquiao cleanly won the rematch and there was no dispute.
Bradley proved in that fight, despite the loss, that he's one of boxing's elite and will be competitive with anyone in or around his weight class.
Roy Jones Jr., the one-time unquestioned pound-for-pound king, raved about Bradley's boxing skills, but said he shouldn't be pigeon-holed simply as a boxer.
"It's crazy, because we know how good Bradley is as a boxer, but he's more of a fighter than he is a boxer," said Jones, who will call Saturday's bout from ringside with new Hall of Fame inductee Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman on HBO. "He's more of a fighter/boxer than a pure boxer. There are situations, like in that [Ruslan] Provodnikov fight, where he'd be better off just using his boxing skills and making it an easy fight.
"But he can't do that. That's not who he is. You hit him and he wants to fight you. He gets after it. That's why I say he's a fighter/boxer."
He's also, as his star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars says, a world champion humanitarian.
In the long run, it's going to be that which Bradley is remembered for years after his boxing career has ended.
