By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) says he’ll be ready for anything former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) tries on April 9 in their third fight with each other.
Bradley blames his loss in his second fight to Pacquiao on him feeling he had to score a knockout in order to win. It’s anyone’s guess why Bradley would feel that he would need a knockout to win in the second fight, because he was given the benefit of the doubt in the first fight in getting a controversial decision given to him in 2012.
If anything, Bradley should have been feeling confident that he would be given the win no matter what he did in the ring. Instead of Bradley fighting smart by sticking with what had worked for him in the first fight, namely running, he chose to slug with Pacquiao. This played into Pacquiao’s hands, as he was faster, stronger and a lot more experienced.
“Manny will be the same Manny; vicious, fast and quick, powerful, and I’ll be different,” Bradley said to Hoopjab. “I will be different. I won’t be the same fighter I was two fights ago. I won’t be the same fighter I was when I fought him the first time. I’ll be different. I’ll be stronger. I’m smarter now too, and I’m more experienced. Now I’m going to be even better. He’s confident, as he should be, but I’m very confident. The first time was different. The media made it nerve wracking. This time around it’s like getting in the car and putting my seatbelt on and go. It’s smoother. It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t affect me now. I’ll be ready for anything Manny can do. No more stupid swinging, swinging wild. Teddy won’t go for that putting your head down and swinging. No more getting hit with those clean right hands from Jessie Vargas. No more of that. You’re going to see the best Timothy Bradley because guess what? I want this. This is about legacy. Nothing personal for Manny Pacquiao like in my second fight where I felt I had to knock him out. This fight is more like ‘Tim, you got to go out there and do your job. You got to go out there and win,” said Bradley.
Bradley has a lot of excuses for his loss and his questionable win in his first two fights against Pacquiao. It wasn’t because of the media that Bradley struggled in the first fight with Pacquiao. He just wasn’t good enough and was overmatched from the start.
I don’t believe for a second that Bradley is a better fighter at 32 compared to when he was fighting Pacquiao in his 20s. Having Teddy Atlas as his new trainer isn’t going to change anything for Bradley. He’s going to go out there and likely use the same hit and run style that he used in his first fight with Pacquiao. The difference is I think the judges will get the scoring right this time and give Pacquiao a fairly lopsided win. Bradley would be better off standing in the pocket and looking to slug with Pacquiao, but I don’t think he’s going to do that. Atlas will convince Bradley that if he fights smart and avoids trading with Pacquiao, then he’ll be able to steal a decision. It won’t work though. Bradley will lose this fight and lose badly.
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