Timothy Bradley Jr., takes questions during a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016. Bradley is scheduled to face Manny Pacquiao on April 9 in Las Vegas for Bradley’s WBO welterweight boxing title.(AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Manny Pacquiao’s comments towards gays have created a different pre-fight buzz, but that didn’t stop his looming opponent from still throwing in his two cents.
Timothy Bradley seemed to have wanted to avoid the topic which has set the world abuzz a month ahead of his third fight against Pacquiao on April 9 (April 10 PH time), but eventually revealed a deeper and personal connection to the subject.
“It’s pretty much irrelevant to boxing and what we are here to talk about. But if you ask me a question about gay people — I love all people for what they are. I respect people for what they are. I judge people by their heart. If they just talk it and don’t show it, then I don’t believe it — that’s what it’s all about. Show me,” Bradley said in a recent conference call as posted on Boxing Scene.
Bradley, who hails from Palm Springs, California, remembered his late gay uncle who he said he was close to.
“That’s the most important thing. I have a gay uncle [Mitch Bradley] that passed away [eight years ago], and he had the biggest heart out of all of my uncles, and I miss him to death, and I still miss him today right now.”
Pacquiao, who came under fire for implying that gays “are worse than animals,” has since cleared that he is not condemning the LGBT Community but stood firm against same-sex marriage due to “what the Bible says.”
Still, the Filipino boxing champion is still feeling the effects of the backlash after a shopping mall in Los Angeles, which he had frequented, recently banned him for his supposedly anti-gay sentiments.
The two boxers are deep into their training for their third, and what Pacquiao is saying his last, duel in the ring at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.