MANILA, Philippines – After going through the tapes of Timothy Bradley?s fights, Freddie Roach has found what he?s been looking for.
?I have watched a lot of tapes on him and have seen a lot of holes on his defense,? said the celebrated trainer during yesterday?s conference call.
Manny Pacquiao, who will stake his WBO welterweight crown against Bradley on June 9, and chief promoter Bob Arum were also on the end of the line.
Roach said those ?holes? are enough to satisfy his thoughts, his belief that Pacquiao will get past the younger and hungrier foe on June 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Whether by decision or by knockout, Roach said Pacquiao will prevail.
?We are going to take advantage of them,? said Roach of Bradley?s defensive lapses which of course he did not enumerate.
It?s for his consumption, and by this time, just over two weeks to the fight, Pacquiao must have stored them in his mind.
Everybody knows that Bradley, undefeated in 28 fights, has the habit of leading with his head, and in previous sessions, Filipino trainer Buboy Fernandez mimicked Bradley inside the ring.
It could be dangerous.
?Yes, Bradley does come in head first. We have been working on how to nullify that,? Roach told the lengthy conference call.
?We have a lefty fighting against a righty. The two heads may clash, that could happen and it?s something we have to be aware of and something we will be prepared for,? said Roach.
Bradley will host his own conference call on Friday (Saturday in Manila) and he?s expected to say what he?s been saying all camp long.
Bradley said this is his time and on June 9 he will ?destroy? Pacquiao.
?I have been watching Bradley a lot and he doesn?t rely very much on counter-punching. He is very offensive. He comes to fight which will make it a good fight for everybody.
?We have the game plan set after watching many, many tapes of Bradley. Manny should have a very good fight on June 9,? said Roach.
Meanwhile, Bradley said he knows how to deal with southpaws.
But can he deal with a southpaw as fast, as strong as Pacquiao?
In an interview with www.ringTV.com, Bradley said fighting two southpaws in a row will help him cope with the Filipino superstar.
Bradley knocked out Devon Alexander inside 10 rounds in January last year and stopped the aging Joel Casamayor inside eight rounds last November.
Alexander and Casamayor are both southpaws.
?This will be my third, yep (against southpaws),? the 28-year-old Bradley told Lem Satterfield in the other day.
?So basically what?s going down is that I?m a lot more familiar with the southpaw stance. I?ve not been in with a right-hander in my last three fights,? he added.
But Pacquiao?s trainer, Freddie Roach, thinks it will be much easier said than done. He said Bradley has never faced anyone as strong as Pacquiao.
