Bradley’s humbling climb has another big step ahead

But days away from the biggest payday of his life, Bradley, 28, hasn’t forgotten what it was like to be virtually broke.

In 2008, Bradley left for Nottingham, England, and a world title shot against WBC junior welterweight champion Junior Witter. He and his then-girlfriend Monica Smoot had $11 in their bank account and faced an uncertain future. But that uncertainty changed as Bradley, a 6-1 underdog, beat the odds and Witter to capture the title and a $58,000 purse.

Four years later, Bradley finally has the big-money fight he has been seeking his entire career. And if he defeats Pacquiao, the WBO welterweight champion and one of boxing’s biggest names, Bradley knows even bigger paydays await.

“From where I’ve been to where I am, it has been a long, hard ride,” Bradley (28-0, one no decision, 12 knockouts), the WBO junior welterweight champ, said Tuesday after his official “arrival” at the MGM. “This fight will change my life when I beat Pacquiao.”

It can be argued it already has changed Bradley. He no longer has to worry about being broke. Thanks to Monica, who he married in 2010, and his manager, Cameron Dunkin, Bradley has watched his money carefully, and he has got financial peace of mind. But he remembers his past, a past he is not ashamed of, yet one that serves as an important reminder that fortune, like fame, can be fleeting.

In 2006, before he met his future wife, Bradley was working as a waiter at a Mimi’s Cafe family restaurant in his native Palm Springs, Calif. Prior to that, he had worked as a dishwasher at a Coco’s Restaurant. All the while he was trying to climb the ladder and position himself as a world title contender.

“All the hard work coming from that, waiting on tables, experiencing that lifestyle, compared to my lifestyle now, makes me appreciate what I have,” Bradley said. “I have nothing against that lifestyle, waiting tables, but I like my more comfortable lifestyle now. That’s why I’ve got to win this fight by any means necessary. I’ve got to take this guy out.”

Bradley said being a waiter taught him humility and an appreciation for earning an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.

“I approached it like I do everything else,” he said. “If I’m going to wait on tables, I’m going to be the best waiter I can be. I never carried around a pad. I remembered everything up here (pointing to his head). I was good. I waited on a zillion tables, and it was hard work. But I loved people and communicating with them.”

His engaging personality was tested one day as Bradley waited on a family with an elderly gentleman leading the group. As they got up to leave following lunch, one of the women in the group approached him.

“The daughter came up to me and said, ‘My dad is a huge racist. He doesn’t like your kind. But this was the most pleasant lunch he ever had his entire life,’ and I was like, ‘Really?’

“That tripped me out. I’m black, and he’s this racist guy, yet he had the most pleasant lunch he ever had. That tells you something about how I can get along with people. They tipped me well. Very well.”

Bradley, who adheres to a strict vegan diet, said he rarely visits Mimi’s or Coco’s these days. If he beats Pacquiao (54-3-2, 28 KOs), who will make a minimum of $26 million Saturday, Bradley probably could own a Mimi’s. But the memories of having worked at the two establishments remain strong.

“It makes me cherish every dollar that I earn in this sport of boxing, and it makes me a firm believer that hard work pays off,” he said. “I think it helps the fans relate to me. I know what it’s like to work in a 9-to-5 job and how tough it is to get by.

“I feel as people, we’re rats trapped in a maze. We’re just going around and around and around in a circle. But I’m in control of my life now, and I feel that I am (out of the maze). I don’t pay taxes before I get paid (anymore).”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.