‘Kill the body and the head dies’
Unbeaten Timothy Bradley, bragging about a secret win-win formula against Manny Pacquiao, failed to escape critics who branded him a big bluff and an aspirant clown after he refused to give hints on what that weapon was all about.
Actually, Bradley was never in a clowning mood, as evidenced by his tacit admission that he pissed blood after his brutal unanimous decision win over rock-hard Ruslan Provodnikov last year.
This revelation was made over the weekend, as Bradley went to town taunting and heckling Pacquiao over his alleged loss of intensity and killer instinct.
* * *
Monday, there was a significant twist to Bradley’s hysterics. Trainer Joel Diaz bared the route map for their mission to score a clear win in Las Vegas on April 12.
There were no concealed bombs to speak of; instead the battle plan, as explained by Bradlery’s trainer, centers around an exacting defensive maneuver.
“Manny, if you make him think, he doesn’t know how to fight,” Diaz stated in the latest issue of Ring Magazine, the bible of boxing.
* * *
Continued Diaz: “But if you just come straight to get him, he’s going to demolish you. When he fought (Antonio) Margarito, Margarito was just coming forward.
When he fought (Miguel) Cotto, Cotto was just coming forward. When he fought (Joshua) Clottey, Clottey was just coming forward. When he fought (Ricky) Hatton, Hatton was just moving forward.
But when you make him think, and you’ve got footwork, he gets lost every time.”
Diaz claimed Bradley, 30, has matured a lot since his so-so stand against Pacquiao in their first encounter in June 2012.
* * *
No, Diaz did not say they would turn the rematch into a chess game, but he bared how they would avoid frontal clashes by riding on lateral moves.
He traced how Bradley, supremely evasive, had used a patented escape route two years ago.
Diaz claimed Bradley moved from side to side starting the back half of the first encounter, thus causing Pacquiao to miss and fade.
* * *
By the way, this was the exact defensive route suggested by Juan Manuel Marquez (to Bradley) earlier.
Truth is there’s a strong likelihood the Mexican factor would play a major role in Pacquiao-Bradley ll. It’s like this.
Earlier last week, there was a photo-op at Wild Card involving four ring legends, namely Pacquiao, trainer Freddie Roach, Marco Antonio Barrera and last, but not the least, all-time Mexican ring great Julio Cesar Chavez.
It was not clear whether Chavez, acknowledged dean of body-bangers among Latino fighters, himself offered some tips during that visit.
* * *
But knowing Pacquiao, he need not be reminded by Roach on the significance of Chavez’s assuring presence.
The core of the fabulous Chavez style is rooted on a tested game changer, something about going to the body, because it’s a more predictable target. Was it the great Archie Moore who preached that, unlike the elusive head, the body is always available because it has got no eyes.
For his part, Chavez no longer has to remind Pacquiao about the tested tenet which says: “Kill the body and the head dies.”
