FREDDIE ROACH, trainer of Manny Pacquiao, is sick and tired of hearing that Timothy Bradley was injured during their first bout. After claiming the most controversial of decisions, Bradley announced he had been forced to endure injuries to his feet for most of the June 2012 bout.
?I don?t care about his foot,? Roach snapped. ?These guys are professional fighters so that should have been no f****** issue whatsoever. He never complained during the fight. It wasn?t obvious during the fight.?
There have been suggestions that an injury-free Bradley will be more mobile, and able to outbox Pacquiao ? convincingly ? in the return.
?If it becomes a boxing match, we win,? said Roach. ?We saw that before. Manny won that fight 10 rounds to two. He outboxed him. Bradley is not more dangerous than in the first fight, I don?t believe that at all. I?m sure Bradley is making adjustments, just as we are. We try to do things differently in every fight.?
Roach again confirmed that Pacquaio ? without a stoppage victory since halting Miguel Cotto in 2009 ? has rediscovered his killer instinct. Much of Bradley?s pre-fight chat has been based around the fact that once a fighter loses that hunger it does not come back.
?We?re glad that Bradley said those things [that Pacquiao is not the same fighter],? said Roach. ?It woke Manny up because sometimes when I say things he doesn?t always take notice. He couldn?t believe what Bradley was saying and it?s been good for him.
?We?ve had knockdowns in this training camp for the first time in a long time. It?s encouraging.
?Most of our sparring partners have been designed for movement to encourage Manny to go forward, cut the ring off, and set traps. He?s getting better at that but he still puts himself into awkward positions at times.?
It was that awkward positioning that led to his great rival, Juan Manuel Marquez, knocking Pacquiao cold in the bout that followed the Bradley loss. Roach, a former fighter, is not concerned that defeat may have left a lasting effect on his charge.
?Anyone can get knocked out,? he said. ?I thought it was f****** impossible to get knocked out when I was fighting until it happened to me. Then I got knocked out. You get hit with the right shot and it can happen to anyone. But it bothered me a lot and I kind of fell apart [as a fighter] after that. But Manny and I are different people. He?s coped, and he?s done the right things since.?
Roach hopes that Bradley tries to exploit Pacquiao?s punch resistance.
?I hope Bradley welcomes a fire fight. I hope he tries to pressure Manny into making mistakes. When you pressure Bradley he?s open through the middle and leaves his chin in the air. When Manny gets him on the ropes, we know what to do. We expect Bradley to fight back because he?s a brave guy, but maybe that will be his downfall.?
The esteemed trainer insists the gameplan does not involve a knockout. Unlike in recent Pacquiao outings, Roach did not declare his fighter was going to win inside schedule. But he did reveal that Pacquaio has destructive ideas of his own.
?He told me one day after a combination on the pads, ?That?s the combination I?m going to finish Bradley with? and he has never said that before. The signs are all encouraging. He?s sick of training now, and that only happens when he?s ready to fight. When he gets sick of training, good results always follow. It?s a good sign.?
