Manny Pacquiao: I’ll have everything back

By: Roy Luarca - 11 years ago

THE OLD FIRE’S BACK And Manny Pacquiao is only too happy about it. A confident Pacman grins at his cornermen in between rounds of his WBO title fight against Timothy Bradley at MGM Grand. AP

LAS VEGAS—Had Manny Pacquiao been given the go-signal by Freddie Roach, he would have gone all out to finish off Timothy Bradley Saturday night (Sunday in Manila).

“I wanted to attack and attack, but my corner (Roach) prevented me,” Pacquiao told sportswriters on the customized bus emblazoned with his image that took him and his party back to Los Angeles on Sunday.

“He feared that I might get caught by a sneaky punch, that’s why my hands were always raised [during the fight],” added Pacquiao, the morning after he regained the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown with a unanimous decision triumph over Bradley.

Saved for the bandage over his left eyebrow, which was cut by an accidental headbutt with seconds to go in the last round, Pacquiao’s face was virtually unmarked.

The fighting congressman from Sarangani province said he enjoyed the fight and was happy with his performance.

“I rained punches on him as he was imitating the style of [Juan Manuel] Marquez,” Pacquiao said. “He was looking for an opening to deliver that one-punch knockout. Maybe he thought he was Marquez.”

In a highly tactical battle last year, Bradley beat a confident Marquez, who was still basking in the glory of his sensational sixth-round stoppage of Pacquiao on Dec. 8, 2012.

Having thoroughly studied the style of Pacquiao, Bradley found an opening in the fourth and landed an overhand right that jolted the Filipino ring icon.

Though the punch hurt, it only emboldened Pacquiao to go for the kill as he felt he could weather Bradley’s strongest punches.

Pacquiao said he was having trouble connecting early as Bradley, as tall as he is at 5-foot-6, was “weaving and ducking very low.”

Feeling some cramping in the second round and in the middle stages, Pacquiao said he eased off a bit and resumed his attack only in the ninth.

Promoter Bob Arum said he intends to stage Pacquiao’s next fight in Macau in November, most probably against the winner of the Marquez-Mike Alvarado duel on May 17.

While he prefers to fight in Las Vegas, where he had his first big fight on June 23, 2001 against Lehlohonolo Ledwaba, Pacquiao said he would abide by Arum’s decision.

Just like Arum, Pacquiao rejected a third fight with Bradley, saying the fans are no longer interested in it.

Pacquiao said he wants to fight Marquez next, but the Mexican warrior must get past Alvarado first.

What his victory against Bradley showed, he said, was that his old aggressiveness, killer instinct and rapid-fire combinations were still there—weapons he used to overwhelm Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto.

“Slowly but surely, I’ll have everything back,” said Pacquiao.