Timothy Bradley wants Bob Arum’s promotional company to match Richard Torrez against another hard-hitting heavyweight it promotes.
Bradley, an analyst for ESPN, called for a Torrez-Jared Anderson fight during a “State of Boxing” segment after Torrez defeated Guido Vianello by unanimous decision Saturday night in Las Vegas. The former welterweight and junior welterweight champion came away impressed by Torrez’s 10-round victory over Vianello, but Bradley considers Anderson a stiffer test for the 2021 Olympic silver medalist.
“You know who I wanna see him against?,” Bradley said to Bernardo Osuna and Mark Kriegel. “I wanna see him against Jared Anderson. I mean, come on. What are we doing, right? Jared Anderson should be next for Torrez. You know, Vianello was a good challenge. He was able to pass that. He did his thing. However, I – look, going back to what [Kriegel] said, the talent that Jared has, now it depends on how bad he wants it. But I think it’s the perfect opportunity for Jared to get himself back into the mix, right? Where people start to say, ‘OK, Jared …’ ”
Kriegel interjected before Bradley finished that thought.
“Do you think Top Rank’s gonna make that fight?,” Kriegel asked. Bradley responded, “Why wouldn’t they?”
Anderson (18-1, 15 KOs) soundly defeated Greece’s Marios Kollias (12-4-1, 10 KOs) on points in his last fight, a 10-rounder February 14 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. That relatively safe fight marked Anderson’s return from a fifth-round knockout defeat to Congolese slugger Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs) on August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
The 25-year-old Anderson, of Toledo, Ohio, drew criticism from ESPN’s abovementioned team of broadcasters because he didn’t appear all that inspired when he fought Kollias. The Toledo, Ohio native previously made it clear that he strictly boxes for money and doesn’t intend to remain in the sport nearly as long as most heavyweights.
Bradley remains intrigued, though, by the possibility of matching Anderson against Torrez (13-0, 11 KOs), who defeated Anderson in an amateur match.
“But let’s go back – they have history,” Bradley said. “Look, Torrez beat him in the amateurs. All right? … Look, the reason why I want that fight to happen is because Jared moved into position, he fought Bakole. OK, we know what happened with that. Yeah, the money. No doubt about it. He comes back, he fights an OK opponent or whatever, dominates him no problem.
“But this is a guy [in Torrez] that’s on the rise, you know, had his first real test tonight, did well. This is a guy that – he beat a guy that beat [Arslanbek] Makhmudov, took on a couple of top contenders. Why not put them together, man? Why not put those two guys together and see who’s the best? See who’s the best here in Top Rank, in the stable, right?”
The 25-year-old Torrez, of Tulare, California, pressured Italy’s Vianello (13-3-1, 11 KOs) for most of their bout.
Vianello made some adjustments in the middle rounds, when he stopped holding long enough to create distance and work off his jab against the bullish Torrez. Those moments weren’t nearly enough to counteract Torrez’s right hook and body work, which enabled him to win by wide distances on the scorecards of judges Max De Luca (98-91), Tim Cheatham (97-92) and Steve Weisfeld (98-91).
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.