LAS VEGAS ? Manny Pacquiao?s assumed the look of a blind man staring at the vastness of the universe on Wednesday when asked what worries him most about fighting Tim Bradley.
Pacquiao even repeated the question, sounding unsure if he had heard it right, and took that long pause, and appearing lost.
Three days before he faces unbeaten American challenger Tim Bradley at the MGM Grand, Pacquiao expressed no concerns about the dangers of being in the ring with Bradley, telling a select group of print journalists that he is certain everything will turn out right.
“As a fighter, I know that if I train hard, there?s no need to worry,” said Pacquiao, 33, just before he and Bradley took the spotlight in a press conference held at the Hollywood Theater inside the MGM Grand.
Still, Pacquiao is not looking past the 28-year-old Bradley, who has everything to gain and almost nothing to lose against the world?s best fighter.
“I am not taking this fight lightly and I haven?t fought somebody like him,” he said.
The closest a previous opponent can come close to being a Bradley was Agapito Sanchez, the Dominican Republic native who battled him to a foul-laden six-round technical draw in November 2001 in San Francisco, California.
Pacquiao is obviously making reference to Bradley?s history of head-butting, a trait that he shared with Sanchez.
Pacquiao said his training team “didn?t change anything” but “applied some new techniques” to address the problem of an accidental clash of heads, a common occurrence whenever an orthodox (right-hander) like Bradley meets a southpaw (left-hander) like Pacquiao.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao will train for the very last time for this fight on Thursday at the Top Rank gym before having a day-off Friday, which will be the official weigh-in.
The past few days and weeks, tension has been building up involving key members of Pacquiao?s entourage as trainer Freddie Roach doesn?t mince words in assailing conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
Roach became critical of Ariza after the latter left Pacquiao?s training camp in Baguio City last April and the Hall of Fame corner man was very vocal on 24/7 that he wants to get rid of the fitness guru.
But Pacquiao put an end to the issue when he told reporters that Ariza will join Roach, training assistant Buboy Fernandez and cutman Miguel Diaz on the top of the ring.
Now that Team Pacquiao has resolved a major issue, Bradley is delighted that after the fight, he won?t be hearing of any excuses.
“I don?t want to hear any excuses after the fight,” said Bradley.
If Pacquiao knocks him out, the Filipino would certainly don?t want to hear any emanating from his camp.
