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Manny Pacquiao vows to finish Timothy Bradley

Boxer Manny Pacquiao (R) and trainer Freddie Roach (L) work the mitts during a media workout at the Wild Card Boxing Gym on April 2, 2014 in Hollywood, California (Photo by Alexis Cuarezma/Getty Images)

The fighting pride of the Philippines Manny Pacquiao is now in Las Vegas before putting on what his millions of fans believe will be a devastating performance that would once again install him among the roster of elite fighters of today and force undefeated pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. to finally buckle under public pressure and engage in a mega-fight.

A Mayweather fight may be three years too late but is one fight fans would still like to see, no matter what.
However, it all depends on how Pacquiao performs in his eagerly-awaited rematch with unbeaten Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley who virtually robbed Pacquiao of his WBO welterweight pound title in June 2012 when judges Cynthia Ross and Duane Ford inexplicably scored the fight 115-113 for Bradley while the third judge, Jerry Roth had Pacquiao winning by a similar margin.

Of course, its not Bradley’s fault that, as Top Rank promoter Bob Arum pointed out,  the judges were “three blind mice.”

Bradley initially began to irritate Pacquiao, celebrated trainer Freddie Roach, and fight fans when he kept insisting he won their first fight by eight rounds to four.

Although the fight was perhaps closer than most people who had Pacquiao winning by 10 rounds to 2 thought , it certainly wasn’t what Bradley claimed it to be.

That was bad enough but what really got Pacquiao was when Bradley told Manny straight to his face that he no longer had his vaunted “killer instinct” and that his career was coming to an end.

Pacquiao is determined to prove he hasn’t lost his killer instinct and neither is his career threatened. Indeed, Pacquiao told us he is not done yet and will prove it on fight night.

While the decision of judges Ross and Ford who, in a gesture that has been welcomed by the boxing fraternity, have decided to quit as judges, Pacquiao took the decision well, demonstrating his sportsmanship and fairness and refusing to assail the judges.

But it seems Bradley’s taunts and to some extent the taunts of his trainer Joel Diaz that Manny doesn’t have it any more and can’t get it back, have infuriated  Pacquiao deep down inside. And he is hell-bent on making them pay.

Bradley has admitted “I pissed him off. I got under his skin by saying that he lost it.” Whether it was planned or a reflection of nervousness on the part of Bradley we’ll never know until the fight takes place. But clearly Bradley knows what he has done with his provocative statements when he said “Pacquiao is going to be vicious.”

We recall that prior to his showdown with Oscar De La Hoya, “The Golden Boy” vowed to knock Manny out which was an aftermath of Manny’s decision to stay with Top Rank instead of moving over to Golden Boy Promotions.

There was a touch of vengeance in De La Hoya’s statements and Pacquiao reacted like only he knows how by re-arranging Oscar’s pretty face in a one-sided beat-down that ended with a forlorn  De La Hoya quitting on his stool before the start of the eighth round.

Pacquiao sparred four rounds at the Wild Card Gym and went through his rigorous regimen before boarding an SUV with longtime companion, Ilocos Sur governor  Luis “Chavit” Singson at the head of a convoy that travelled to Las Vegas on Tuesday. .

ABS-CBN’s Los Angeles reporter Steve Angeles who spoke to Pacquiao and Roach before they began the journey to Las Vegas said Pacquiao reiterated what he had told HBO Sports Max Kellerman on “Face Off” that he would be more aggressive and throw many more punches than he did in their first fight.

The fire burning within Pacquiao spilled over when he told Roach “I will finish him!”

It was music to the ears of Roach who has quietly encouraged Pacquiao to regain the mental attitude he had shown when he pulverized Oscar De La Hoya, demolished Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton and ripped Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito.

Roach enthused “I like what I hear.”

Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz who has kept Yahoo Philippines abreast of Manny’s training regimen and his three-times-a-week sparring sessions believes that Pacquiao needs to win by a knockout to re-establish his standing as an elite fighter and is hoping it will be the case this Sunday.

Koncz told Yahoo  Philippines “a twelve round decision is not going to do anything for Manny and his career. It it’s a twelve round decision it may be time to sit down and discuss what Manny wants to do in boxing” even as he emphasized Pacquiao “needs a knockout in this fight.”