“Many Pacquiao will be looking to take my head off,” Bradley told Santos A. Perez of the Miami Herald earlier in the week.
Was poor Mr. Bradley also preparing to scream for help?
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Don’t bite, please. Truth is the American boxer they call the Desert Storm has not missed a beat in crying about Pacquiao’s fearsome speed and power inside the boxing ring.
After his first fight with Pacquiao, Bradley, who was anomalously declared winner via split decision, did not hesitate to refer to Pacquiao as a fire-breathing beast.
Bradley, no thanks to Pacquiao’s monstrous might, broke his ankle in that bout and had to attend the postfight press conference in a wheelchair.
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Maybe Pacquiao, who was officially declared loser of the first encounter, visibly tried to play it a bit kinder in the second meeting, which he nevertheless dominated to win by unanimous verdict.
By the way, it can’t be denied that Pacquiao has ended up fighting Bradley a third time because the Filipino boxing superhero has found Bradley a more convenient foe than the young, fierce and dangerous Terence Crawford. Premier promoter Bob Arum has originally picked the unbeaten WBO light welterweight titlist for Pacquiao’s slated final fight on April 9.
Trainer Freddie Roach, however, warned that the younger Crawford could prove too strong, and therefore dangerous, to the 37-year-old Pacquiao
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“Look, if I beat Pacquiao, they would say he was old,” Bradley told the Miami Herald.
Bradley clarified: “I can’t depend on Pacquiao being weak. He’s going to be stronger than ever. And greatly motivated.”
He did not say it, but Bradley, insisting Pacquiao could be doubly devastating, obviously agreed to bulk up this time in order to avoid being run over and mangled.
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Bradley would also repeat that his chances in the third encounter would hinge on the reshaping and reformation provided by the respected trainer Teddy Atlas.
Bradley said his challenge, unlike in the past, would be anchored on sharper technique, sustained defense, better mobility, evasiveness.
Meanwhile, Roach, after admitting Bradley had indeed changed and improved (under Atlas), would revert to his original taunt that Bradley would shrink to a stammering statue once he starts getting hit real hard by Pacquiao on April 9.
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Roach also insisted they would push and press hard right at the start.
Roach, by the way, failed to state if they have done anything to improve Pacquiao’s patently poor defense.
For the record, Atlas and Bradley have also been rehearsing the phantom trick used by Juan Manuel Marquez in stopping Pacquiao cold in December 2012.