Bradley to face the Pacquiao who defeated Barrera, Morales, De La Hoya, and Hatton
Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley are in the thick of their preparations for their rematch scheduled for April 12 (April 13 PHL time) but the former WBO welterweight champion took time off to write a blog post heading into his quest for redemption.
Pacquiao started his post by talking about his last fight against Brandon Rios in Macau. It was his first outing after losing via sixth round knockout to his nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez.
“I was very happy with my performance against Brandon Rios. Speed has always been a major weapon for me and I used it throughout the fight against Rios for one simple reason – it was working,” said Pacquiao. “The power is still there and I used it effectively against Rios to keep him off balance. Freddie and I came up with the game plan to mix things up against Rios. I would utilize my speed and foot movement in boxing him to keep him off balance then when he would come in out of frustration I would land the power punches.”
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He also added that his game plan against Rios was brought about by the things he learned from the fight against Marquez.“The one thing I learned from my fight against Marquez was patience. When I had him teetering I became reckless and went in to finish him. I was careless and he landed the perfect punch. That was learning a lesson the hard way,” Pacquiao explained.
“I still have the killer instinct. I am not afraid to use my power and go for the knockout. But I will remember the lesson I learned from my last fight with Marquez. Knockouts need to come naturally. You should not force them. But Freddie likes knockouts and I like to make Freddie happy.”
He then talked about the result of his first fight against Bradley where he lost via split decision.“I won at least 10 rounds against Tim Bradley the first time we fought. I intend to win all the rounds against him this time regardless of the length of the fight,” Pacquiao boasted.
Bradley has been outspoken in the promotion of their rematch. He went on to say that Pacquiao is no longer the fighter he once was and that he lost his killer instinct. But Pacquiao claims that this only made him want to finish the fight by knockout even more.
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“He said I have lost my hunger and that my time is over. Everything I am doing in training camp is aimed at proving to him just how wrong he is,” the eight-division world champion said. “I have all the respect for Bradley and what he has accomplished but I have no fear of him. He has inspired me to exceed my previous performances inside the ring.
“If Bradley wants to meet the fighter who stopped Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Erik Morales, and Marco Antonio Barrera, he’s going to get his wish on April 12.”
