ESPN Boxing

Junior welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley Jr. won his title in England, thousands of miles from his home in Palm Springs, Calif. Now, he'll get to defend it in front of his hometown fans for the first time.

Bradley and former unified lightweight beltholder Nate Campbell will hook up Aug. 1 (Showtime) at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 10 miles from where Bradley grew up.

The fight has been in the works for several weeks, but Bradley promoter Gary Shaw told ESPN.com, "Everything is done, everything is signed 100 percent."

Bradley is thrilled to be able to fight near home for the first time since 2007, before he had a title.

"God answered my prayers," Bradley said. "There have been a lot of people wanting to see me fight at home since I won my first championship. It's an unbelievable feeling to be able to fight out here, a dream come true. There will not be added pressure, I will not get out of character when I fight Nate."

Shaw is always uneasy when fighters fight at home, however.

"Timmy is very happy that he will be fighting at home, but I'm nervous because I'm always nervous when world champions fight at home," Shaw said. "There's always distractions and family and friends. They all make distractions for the fighter. But he's pretty well grounded, so I just have to impress upon him what it is to fight at home, especially since he's [had a title], all of his fights have been away. This is the first time the community can come out and see him since he's been a champion."

Bradley (24-0, 11 KOs), 25, won a belt in May 2008, outpointing England's Junior Witter in England. In Bradley's second defense in April, he outpointed Kendall Holt to unify 140-pound titles. However, Bradley was stripped of one of his belts because he was not interested in a mandatory defense against Devon Alexander.

Ironically, Alexander and Witter, who are slated to fight for the belt stripped from Bradley, may wind up doing so on the undercard, Shaw said.

"It's possible," Shaw said. "[Showtime's] Ken Hershman has not made a final decision on that but Showtime may place the fight on that card."

Campbell (33-5-1, 25 KOs), 37, won three lightweight belts in March 2008 by upsetting Juan Diaz, but he was stripped in February when he failed to make weight for a mandatory defense against Ali Funeka.

Campbell fought Diaz in Mexico and has no problem going to Bradley's backyard either.

"Him fighting at home won't make him a better fighter, will it?" Campbell said. "I'm cool with it. I'll make the crowd behave. He'll do everything he can do to win and I will do that too. I respect Bradley. I like him. It will be a good fight."

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.