Koncz: Bradley lit a fire in Pacquiao
While some boxing writers and commentators fret over the fact that Manny Pacquiao hasn’t won by a stoppage in over three years, Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz believes that undefeated WBO welterweight champion Timothy “Desrt Storm” Bradley may bring back the so-called “killer instinct” in the fighting pride of the Philippines.
Koncz believes that’s because of a statement Bradley made straight to Pacquiao’s face on their recent media tour in the United States that Manny was a great person, a great fighter “but you’ve lost it. You’ve lost your power and you’ve lost your killer instinct.”
The adviser told Yahoo Philippines that Bradley’s comments “lit a fire in Manny” even as he disclosed that they discussed it and Pacquiao who wasn’t outwardly peeved knows “this is a very important fight.”
The two clash in an eagerly awaited rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 12 with Pacquiao eager to regain the title he lost after the judges denied Pacquiao a victory that an overwhelming majority of the media and fight fans thought he won rather handily.
Bradley, on the other hand, knows he’s taken a beating from the boxing writers, commentators and fans over his victory but there’s nothing he can do about it except to try and prove he is the better fighter in their rematch.
In Koncz’s mind, beating Bradley on points even in a dominating performance won’t do much to resurrect Pacquiao’s career and place him once again among the elite fighters in the world.
He says nothing short of a knockout will do.
Koncz, who has served as Pacquiao’s adviser for some nine years, told Yahoo Philippines in a wide-ranging interview that “a twelve-round decision is not going to do anything for Manny and his career. If it’s a twelve-round decision it may be time to sit down and discuss what Manny wants to do in boxing” emphasizing that Pacquiao “needs a knockout in this fight.”
While Pacquiao put on a clinic against Brandon Rios last November, Koncz was disappointed that he “didn’t see the desire to knock somebody out.”
Koncz recalled that in the Rios fight, the former world lightweight champion got only one round by his reckoning and that Pacquiao “fought Rios the same way he fought Oscar De La Hoya – very sophisticated. Before Oscar could hit him, he was gone. He fought Rios the same way. He was gone before Rios could hit him.”
However, Koncz stressed, “I still believe we need to put an exclamation mark and show the world that if Manny puts his mind to it he has all the tools he had five years ago. Yes he’s getting older, he’s getting smarter, fighting a much more intelligent fight and not wasting energy. But I still believe that against Bradley a knockout is in order.”
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Trainer Freddie Roach has made it clear he is going to prepare Manny so he could win by a knockout this time around, noting that there were moments in the first showdown with Bradley and even with Rios that Pacquiao backed off when his opponents were in trouble and he could have gone for a knockout.
Present plans call for Pacquiao to initially train in his Pacman Wild Card Gym in his hometown of General Santos City where he began light training last week before getting in some sparring with former Floyd Mayweather Sr. protégé Lydell Rhodes, who is unbeaten in 19 fights with 9 knockouts to his name and claimed in an interview with Yahoo Philippines “I bring more speed, more elusiveness as a boxer and have a little more power” than Bradley.
While he admits he is also a fan of Bradley, Rhodes said “the advantage is Manny’s power. He’s got a lot of power, a lot of speed, I think he has more speed and power than Bradley. But Bradley improved since they fought before. I believe in my heart of hearts he (Pacquiao) won the first fight even though I am a Bradley fan myself. On paper everything favors Manny who does everything a little bit better – he’s got the experience, speed, power footwork, all of it.”
Looking ahead to his sparring with Pacquiao, Rhodes promised he’ll be aggressive. “I am going to take it to him. That’s why they brought me here. They didn’t bring me in to sit back even though I said I was a fan, I still come to compete. When I get into the ring with him it's not going to be a walk in the park. They want me to go at him I’ll go at him and bring more than Bradley brings. That’s my job and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Koncz revealed that there were several sparring partners lined up by Roach when Pacquiao moves training camp to the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles which is planned for March 2.
Among them will be former WBO light welterweight champion Kendall Holt who lost his title to Bradley in Montreal, Canada in 2009.
Koncz is hoping, as most Filipino fight fans do, that indeed Pacquiao will regain his “killer instinct” and regain his lofty stature in the fight capital of the world – Las Vegas.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
