Manager stunned after being dumped by Bradley

Dunkin, who managed Bradley for the past three years, will be on the outside looking in when Bradley meets Manny Pacquiao on April 12 at the MGM Grand Garden in a rematch of their June 9, 2012, fight that Bradley won with a controversial 12-round split decision.

“He’s a good kid,” Dunkin said. “I’m not bitter at all. But to lose a Tim Bradley hurts, not just financially but personally.”

Dunkin, who had an undisclosed illness late last year, said he thought he and Bradley were still doing business after Bradley retained his WBO welterweight title on Oct. 12 with a split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez at the Thomas &Mack Center.

“There was nothing to indicate we weren’t still together,” Dunkin said. “He was winning. He was on top. Everything seemed to be fine.”

But Bradley has a different story. He told si.com that he hadn’t heard from Dunkin after he beat Marquez and decided to let his wife, Monica, take over for Dunkin.

“Cameron is a great manager,” Bradley said. “I can’t say anything bad about him. He cares for his fighters, for the amount of money they are making. Cameron has definitely helped my career in many ways. We did business. We did a lot of great business.

“The fact that I didn’t re-sign is because Cameron didn’t show interest in me after the Marquez fight. He showed no kind of interest. He didn’t call, he didn’t mention the contract was up, he didn’t try to renegotiate. After the Marquez fight, I never heard from him. So I was like, I think I can do this (myself).”

Dunkin said he reached out to Bradley in November but never heard back.

“I knew something was up,” Dunkin said. “I just wished he had called me instead of sending (Top Rank president) Todd (duBoef) an email saying he was not to negotiate with me. He knows I cared about his well-being, his health and his family. But it’s his choice.”

■ VARGAS TITLE SHOT — Undefeated Las Vegas welterweight Jessie Vargas, who is managed by Dunkin, will fight on the April 12 undercard. He is dropping back down to 140 pounds to face WBA junior welterweight champion Khabib Allakhverdiev.

“It’s been my dream (to fight for a title) since I was 8 years old and first put on a pair of boxing gloves,” Vargas said. “It’s a great opportunity, and I have to take full advantage of it.”

Vargas (23-0, nine knockouts) will have a new trainer in his corner for the title fight. He left Robert Alcazar, who had worked with him for the past two years, for Ismael Salas.

Vargas said the focus has been on strength, conditioning and developing power in both hands.

“I enjoy new challenges,” he said. “Robert did a great job, but logistically it wasn’t working with him being based in Ontario (Calif.) and me here in Vegas.”

Vargas said he should be able to get to 140 pounds after fighting his past two fights at 147.

“I’m going to do it smart,” he said. “I know how to lose weight properly so I can make 140 and still be physically strong. I think it gives me an advantage having fought guys who were almost middleweights by the time they got in the ring with me. I’ll be bigger and stronger than (Allakhverdiev).”

■ BWAA AWARDS — To no one’s surprise, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was selected Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America. He was 2-0 in 2013, beating Robert Guerrero in May and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in September.

Freddie Roach was named Trainer of the Year, and the Bradley-Ruslan Provodnikov bout in March was selected Fight of the Year.

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