Bradley, who snatched Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title in their controversial fight in 2012, showed toughness and endurance in a 12-round contest but his problem with stamina appears to have surfaced when he lost to Pacquiao during their rematch in 2014.
Bradley’s reduced stamina or endurance-building exercises like jogging or long-distance running could be the reason why he tends to tire out in the late rounds as shown in his second fight against Pacquiao.
During the recent media day in his gym with sports and boxing writers, Bradley admitted that he had cut down on his road works saying he does less than four miles.
“Three-and-a-half miles – no more,” said Bradley, who now frowns on prolonged sparring sessions and road works as tools for stamina or endurance-building.
“It’s all about being smart. It’s all about putting in the proper work. It’s not about sparring until you can’t spar anymore,” he said.
It now appears that Bradley will be leaning on the fight strategy that he and his trainer Teddy Atlas have hatched to score a win against Pacquiao.
Atlas said he will be happy to see Bradley win the fight on points as he talks about his strategy that departs from the usual stamina-building and conditioning exercises.
“I just want to win a decision, three minutes at a time,” Atlas said. “We need complete focus, complete concentration, three minutes at a time. That’s all we need to do against a guy like Manny,”he added.
In contrast, Pacquiao has made it a point to run the stretches of the Griffith Park in Los Angeles to test his endurance and stamina.
Pacquiao’s longtime trainer Freddie Roach makes sure that Pacquiao can endure a 12-round fight with enough strength to go for a knockout win.
