Timothy Bradley is not expecting earth-shattering reception if he beats Manny Pacquiao in their third meeting on April 9.
In fact, Bradley is already anticipating that whatever the results are going to be, he’s not going to get much credit especially that he’s up against Pacquiao.
“I beat Manny Pacquiao, I already know what’s gonna be said. ‘Oh, he was old. He was over the hill. He was this. He was that.’ I already know what it’s gonna be.’ If I lose to Manny Pacquiao, ‘Oh, he’s still great. He can still fight. He’s still this.’ I know how it goes,” Bradley said in an article by Kevin Idec on Boxing Scene.
Bradley and Pacquiao are deep in training in the United States for their fight set two weeks away at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Bradley handed Pacquiao a highly-controversial and widely-criticized split decision loss in their face off in 2012, which Pacquiao overturned with a convincing decision triumph in 2014.
Pacquiao had failed to knock out “Dessert Storm” in both of their meetings, which are part of a seven-year drought of stoppage-less victories.
But Bradley is not banking on the Filipino boxing champion’s decline to bring home the win, believing that Pacquiao still has the motivation to go out with a bang.
“I’m not depending on Manny Pacquiao to be weak in any way,” Bradley said. “I think he’s gonna be strong and I think he’s gonna be highly motivated, and he’s gonna be looking to take my head off.”
“He hasn’t knocked anybody out in a very long time,” Bradley said. “It could be the weight. It could be the weight class. He is at 147 pounds. It could be that, but I’m not depending on any decline in Manny Pacquiao. I’m not depending on any of those things.”
Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs), who is running for a seat in the Philippine Senate in May, is supposedly fighting for the last time in his pro-boxing career.