Bradley: I’ll knock out Pacman with left hook

By: Roy Luarca - 10 years ago

Timothy Bradley, left, lands a punch against Manny Pacquiao in their WBO world welterweight title fight last June 9, 2012, in Las Vegas. Bradley won the fight by split decision. AP FILE PHOTO/CHRIS CARLSON

HOLLYWOOD—Timothy Bradley may not be a power puncher, but he sees the possibility of stopping Manny Pacquiao in their showdown for the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown on April 12 in Las Vegas.

And if he does pull off the stunner, Bradley swears a left hook will do the trick. Not a right straight, as what Juan Manuel Marquez caught Pacquiao with a second to go in the sixth round of their fourth battle on Dec. 8, 2012.

“Left hook, that’s what going to knock him out,” Bradley said during his media workout for the 12-round pay-per-view bout at Fortune Gym on Sunset Boulevard here Thursday (Friday in Manila).

Of course, Bradley is aware of the eight-division world champion’s power that has stopped 38 of 55 victims. On the downside, however, Pacquiao hasn’t knock out an opponent since halting Miguel Cotto in the 12th round in 2009.

“I’m not a knockout artist,” Bradley (31-0 with 12 KOs) said. “He’s a knockout machine.”

But Bradley believes he can outgun, outsmart and outbox Pacquiao, whom he criticized for not finishing off Brandon Rios last November in Macau although there were opportunities to do so.

Extremely confident, Bradley added that there’s only one way for Pacquiao to wrest back the 147-pound title—knock him out.

That’s because Bradley believes he’s improved a lot since their first encounter in 2012, when he was handed a split decision.