LAS VEGAS ? To understand how badly Timothy Bradley wants ? no, make that needs ? to beat Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night, you have to understand the unspeakable pain that fateful night of June 9, 2012, cast upon Bradley and his family.
And that was after he defeated Pacquiao in their first fight. That, of course, was the problem. If the judges had actually scored the fight the way nearly everyone on press row, and maybe 90% of people watching on TV, saw it, Bradley?s life would have likely taken a different direction.
But the world turned on Bradley that night and pushed him into a dark period in his life, which included, he later admitted, suicidal thoughts. It embittered a normally positive, glass-half-full kind of guy. Worst of all, his family was dragged down with him. Bradley is first and foremost a family guy.
Bradley believes in his heart he won that fight. He feels he was treated unfairly by everybody, including his own promoter, Bob Arum, who immediately called for the Nevada Attorney General to investigate the scoring.
He brings up a fight right after the second bout with Pacquiao with similar circumstances. And nobody cared.
?You don?t hear anybody say, ?Oh, even though he got a draw against Chaves, I felt that he beat Chaves,? ? Bradley snapped, referring to his December 2014 fight against Diego Chaves that many thought Bradley won. ?You don?t hear anybody saying that, do you? No. Exactly. I beat Chaves and I didn?t get that credit.?
The way he talked at the final news conference Wednesday at the MGM Grand for Saturday?s bout (HBO pay-per-view, 9 p.m. ET), it?s as if Bradley has accepted that his first two fights against Pacquiao were losses.
?This is about legacy for me. Getting a third crack at it,? he said. ?I?m ready. More than any other fight I?ve ever been in. If I?m going to beat Manny Pacquiao, it?s now. This is my only opportunity, and it?s my last opportunity. And I am ready for it.?
Bradley?s trainer, Teddy Atlas, knows exactly what this means to his 32-year-old fighter, whom he treats like a son.
?More than you will ever be able to feel,? Atlas explained. ?He wants to make up for what his family went through in the first one and the second one. The burden that goes along with such a difficult task ? they share it with him. With the success and the failures, they share that. They feel that.
?And Timmy wants them to feel this. The right side of it. And to finish it the right way. He wants to have a memory of that with his family and a place in history that his family and him can be proud of.?
Bradley (33-1-1. 13 KOs) wants to be remembered as a fighter who beat some of the best in the business. Including Pacquiao, without the controversy.
?I?ve had two other opportunities to face (Pacquiao),? he told USA TODAY Sports. ?Even though I felt I won the first time around, many people didn?t feel I won the fight. So that wasn?t happiness in my book. That wasn?t happiness with my team. The first time I suffered. I suffered a great deal.
?Second time, same thing. I fought as hard as I possibly can. I had a different mind-set, a different game plan. It didn?t work. It worked for the first six rounds, but after that I collapsed and it wasn?t the same, going into the back end of the fight.?
Now with Atlas in his corner, Bradley is confident the result will be different.
?I have everything I need to be ready for this battle, physically, mentally, emotionally,? he said. ?I didn?t tear my body down for this camp. I just trained super smart. And it?s all under the guidance of Teddy Atlas, and controlled. (He?s) watching everything, every angle, what I eat, what time I go to bed, what time I wake up, what time I run, how many miles I run, how much I weighed.
?Everything is tied into him being the captain, being the leader that he is. And me just being a pupil to Teddy and listening.?
Bradley never thought this third fight with Pacquiao, and his guaranteed $4 million payday, plus upside from pay-per-view buys, would happen. He credits his hiring of Atlas before his last fight as the catalyst to getting him this fight.
?I had a great outing against Brandon Rios, and that?s what opened the eyes of people and Top Rank and also Manny Pacquiao, that, ?wow, I think this kid has changed, he?s a better fighter now than he was before,? ? Bradley said. ?And that?s the reason why we?re here today.?
Bradley attributes maturity to his calmer demeanor just a few days before this legacy-defining fight.
?I?m more intact now,? he says. ?I?m more spiritually intact now, and physically, and I believe everything happens for a reason. And that?s the reason this third fight is happening. And Saturday night we?re going to find out why.?
Atlas hopes and prays that the work they have done in training camp shows up on fight night. He spent eight weeks alone in a hotel in Indio, Calif., 3,000 miles from home, because he believes in his guy.
?There?s a delicate balance,? he said. ?You never know what?s going to show when that night comes with all the intangibles flying around in the air that can change something in an instant. And with a talented guy like Pacquiao, there?s no margin for error, none.
?I know we?ve done the work but I know it won?t matter, you won?t care and nobody else will care about the good work we?ve done unless we win and show it on Saturday.?
