Timothy Bradley (L) and Manny Pacquiao battle it out during their WBO world welterweight championship boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 12, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. David Becker/Getty Images/AFP
BEVERLY HILLS, California—Forget about the first two fights, Timothy Bradley said his third showdown with Manny Pacquiao would be the best.
Bradley made this promise Monday night, shortly after checking in with his entourage at Beverly Hills Hotel.
“Don’t look at the other two (fights), this one’s going to be completely different,” said Bradley, noting that he has evolved as a fighter since hiring Teddy Atlas as his new trainer.
“That’s the part everybody wants to see,” added the 32-year-old Bradley. “Will Teddy make a difference?”
The answer will be known on April 9, when Bradley and Pacquiao tangle anew for the American’s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Their first two clashes—one went Bradley’s way in controversial fashion—showed that Pacquiao was the better fighter.
Under Atlas’ stewardship, however, Bradley (31-1-1 with 13 KOs) handed Brandon Rios his first loss via knockout, in the ninth round, last November.
Bob Arum, who handles both Pacquiao and Bradley, was so impressed that he claimed it was the best he had ever seen of Bradley whom he rewarded with a guaranteed purse of $6 million to fight the Filipino superstar.
With Atlas at his corner, Bradley believes he can get even better.
“Remember that we trained together only seven weeks for the Rios fight,” Bradley told Filipino reporters. “Imagine what we can do for eight weeks.”
Like Pacquiao, Bradley is giving himself exactly eight weeks to be ready for their trilogy that’s projected to draw a full house crowd and over 800,000 pay-per-view buys.
“There’s no panic, no rush,” said Bradley. “I’m more poised and wiser now. I think, definitely that being given the opportunity to fight Pacquiao again is a great privilege, most especially if it’s his last fight.”
Bradley said he’d abandoned his vegetarian diet on the advise of a nutritionist. In his succeeding fights, he said he felt stronger, although he still refrains from eating pork.
“Since I stopped eating pork I made more money,” he said.