Timothy Bradley oozing with confidence ahead of Manny Pacquiao rematch
“It was a good competitive fight. I gotta go back home and watch the fight to see if I really won the fight.”
These words were spoken by Timothy Bradley with the WBO welterweight title resting on his shoulder. He spoke these words as Max Kellerman asked if he thought he deserved to win the fight against Manny Pacquiao.
Many months later, as Bradley sat in front of Pacquiao for an episode of “Face Off with May Kellerman,” the undefeated American gave his answer.
“Eight to four,” Bradley said. “I won that fight eight rounds to four.”
The result for their first fight was a split decision victory for Bradley. Jerry Roth had it 115-113 for Pacquiao while Duane Ford and CJ Ross scored it 115-113 for Bradley.
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Most of the boxing writers at ringside disagreed with the result with some scoring the fight 11 rounds to one for Pacquiao. After watching the tape, Bradley apparently disagrees with the judges, too, but for a very different reason.
Bradley thinks the judges got it wrong and that he should have won by a wider margin of 116-112.
Asked by Kellerman how he came to this conclusion, Bradley answered “By outboxing him. He missed most of the punches he threw.”
“I continue to beat the odds every single time,” Bradley boasted of his wins over Juan Manuel Marquez and Ruslan Provodnikov. “I’m capable of doing whatever I want to do as long as I put my mind into it, if I work hard for it.”
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Asked what he had to do to win against Bradley, Pacquiao gave one of his generic answers. “I have to focus and train hard, not like before when I underestimated him,” he said. “I have to get back the aggressiveness.”
Pacquiao was not yet done talking when Bradley butted in. “The only way you’re going to beat me, Manny, is if you knock me out. If you don’t knock me out Manny, you’re not going to win,” Bradley said.
“We’ll see,” Pacquiao replied. “My plan in this fight is to throw a lot of punches. I don’t care if the fight will be stopped or not. I want to prove I can still give a good show.”
Bradley then again stressed that he thinks Pacquiao is no longer the same fighter he once was. “There’s nothing bad I can say about Manny but that hunger that he’s looking for is no longer there and he can’t get it back. It’s gone. It’s not there anymore,” the WBO welterweight champion said. “I don’t know how he lost it but it’s not the same. You’re a great fighter. You’re a tremendous fighter but it’s my time.”
“My time is not done yet,” Pacquiao meekly replied. “One thing I can say to both of us and to all the fighters: Those who humble themselves will be humbled and those who exalt themselves will be humbled.”
