Forget Floyd Mayweather, Jr. If the man who speaks with forked tongue continues to make a mockery of the fight game by insulting the intelligence of the boxing public, he deserves to be ignored. Manny Pacquiao has more than enough on his plate to move forward without Mayweather pulling him back.
At the moment, Pacquiao?s focus must be only on Tim Bradley, the WBO lightwelterweight champion who?s stepping up a notch to challenge the Filipino icon for the WBO welterweight crown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on June 9. Mayweather, refusing a showdown with Pacquiao, is taking on Miguel Cotto in the same venue on May 5.
Pacquiao?s trainer Freddie Roach is convinced it will take a miracle for Bradley to score an upset. ?It?s not an easy fight for Manny but I feel Bradley is just not big enough,? said Roach. Size will be a factor against Bradley who has weighed in no more than 140 pounds in eight of his last nine bouts dating back to 2007. Last year, Bradley fought twice, tipping the scales at 139 1/2 in beating Devon Alexander and 140 in halting Joel Casamayor.
The last time Pacquiao faced a fighter who scaled 140, Ricky Hatton was poleaxed in two rounds. Pacquiao hasn?t scored a stoppage in his last four outings, raising speculation that he may be slowing down. Doubters pointed to his close win over Juan Manuel Marquez by a majority decision as an indication that he may be over the hill.
But remember in 2008 after Pacquiao eked out a split 12-round verdict over Marquez, critics also said the end was near. Pacquiao silenced the detractors by claiming the WBC lightweight crown via a knockout over David Diaz in his next fight and went on to dispose of Oscar de la Hoya, Hatton and Cotto ? all inside the distance ? in that order. The bounce back led to Pacquiao capturing four more world titles in different divisions to add to his collection.
Coming off a narrow win over Marquez last November, Pacquiao is now in a position to rebound in a big way at Bradley?s expense. He?s been installed an early 3-1 favorite and in my own prediction, Bradley will go in seven.
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Curiously, a lot of experts believe Mayweather has it easier with Cotto than Pacquiao with Bradley. ?Cotto doesn?t match up well with Mayweather and didn?t against Pacquiao who was much too fast for him and Cotto got stopped,? said trainer and boxing author Teddy Atlas in Boxing News. ?Cotto?s going to have trouble with that speed and although Mayweather doesn?t throw as many punches as Pacquiao, which will help Cotto a bit, they will be accurate and well placed and Mayweather?s defense is difficult to penetrate.?
Atlas said Bradley is ?hungry, confident, knows how to fight, is pretty good technically, has got good skills and good speed.? He said he wasn?t impressed by Pacquiao in the third Marquez fight. ?I saw a little dissipation with Pacquiao against Marquez in the urgency in his attack,? continued Atlas. ?I just don?t see the same urgency. Manny?s at a place in his life now where there?s a lot of distractions and success and sometimes that success is like having a martini, it can relax you and sometimes fighters don?t need to be relaxed ? not in that area of being content. He?s made a lot of money and there are a lot of options out there for him besides boxing because of who he is and where he lives.?
In a poll conducted by Boxing News, three of four boxing figures said Pacquiao will find it more difficult to beat Bradley than Mayweather to defeat Cotto. English promoter Eddie Hearn said, ?Pacquiao?s shown some weaknesses lately plus Bradley is technically very good? while former European lightmiddleweight champion Jamie Moore noted that ?Bradley will be awkward and look to counter-punch.?
Bradley said a vegan diet will make him physically ready to bring down Pacquiao. The diet supposedly gives him more energy to go the extra mile. ?I was able to outwork a lot of my opponents,? said Bradley who first went on the diet in 2008. It was reported that during his peak training periods, Bradley would go to the Palm Greens Caf? twice a day for his vegan fix. A favorite is a personalized smoothie which includes spinach, kale, mint, ginger, probiotic, bananas, aloe vera, apple juice and Spirulina.
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?It?s new blood going against old blood,? said Bradley in the Wall Street Journal. ?I?m in my prime, man. I don?t think I can go vegan year round. But for fights, I have to do it.? For three months before a fight, Bradley eats strictly vegan with no exceptions.
Bradley, 28, is guaranteed $5 million for the Pacquiao fight. Someone mentioned that he was supposed to get only half the amount but Pacquiao interceded to give Bradley the same paycheck as Marquez last November.
?You see guys making money today and they think that kind of money will always be there,? said Bradley, who married Monica Smoot two years ago (they have an eight-month-old daughter Jada). ?When you?re on top of your game, you have to make as much as you can. Some people are too na?ve and they think they?re everything. I don?t feel that way about myself. I feel that there is always room for improvement. Boxing is something that I love to do and I?m really good at it. But I?ll never become bigger than the sport of boxing. You hear guys say they?re the best ever but a lot of people can get too into themselves and they see too many articles and TV clips about themselves. That?s when they lose themselves. I can make a million dollars but I?ll still be the same person. It?s just how I was raised.?
