Pacquiao won’t take Bradley lightly
Global sports icon Manny Pacquiao ( 54- 3- 2, 38KOS) said he holds Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12KOS) with high respect and that he won't take the unbeaten light welterweight champion lightly just like what he did to his Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez.
Pacquiao gamely admitted that he commited a big mistake when he underestimated Marquez in his previous fight.
" I underestimated him," said Pacquiao in a report by Felix Strunk of fighthype.com. " I thought he was small, and that I would have no problems. It was a mistake. I shouldn't have underestimated him."
Pacquiao seemed to have learned his lessons well, saying he won't in any way do that against Bradley.
"Timothy Bradley is a strong fighter and he loves to fight toe-to-toe and he's undefeated. I think it's going to be a lot of boxing in the ring," said Pacquiao, who is set to defend his WBO welterweight title against Bradley on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"So what we're going to do is we're going to train hard. We're going to do at least 10 weeks of training for this fight and I hope the same thing with Timothy Bradley, who will train hard for this fight, so we can give a good fight and entertain people," added the revered pound- forpound king.
Pacquiao and Bradley were in New York City yesterday (Phl time) for the second leg of their promotional tour hosted by Top Rank Promotions at the Lighthouse of Chelsea Piers at the West Side of Manhattan.
As usual, Pacquiao was in jovial mood although he expressed some concerns on Bradley's style."
" I am sure that it's going to be a good fight because of Tim Bradley's style. He loves to fight toe to toe. He keeps coming inside but my problem is the head butt, so we need to watch that," he said.
Bradley, for his part, once again exuded confidence in declaring that he's out to make history and become the new face of boxing.
"I know it's going to be a hell of a fight. I see myself as the new face of boxing and come June 9, you will see history be made," said Bradley.
But celebrated American trainer Freddie Roach thinks otherwise, saying that his prized ward will completely dominate Bradley.
" No he can't," was Roach's reply when asked by Michael Marley of examiner.com if Bradley can beat Pacquiao. "Yes, I do think Manny needs to dominate, to get a knockout on June 9. We can't keep saying Manny is the pound for pound king of boxing unless he does that."
" But this isn't like ( Shane) Mosley or ( Antonio) Margarito because Manny carried those two guys. He can KO this guy and I really want to see him dominate the fight," added Roach.