Pacquiao, who is set to retire from boxing after the Bradley fight, has intimated to his longtime trainer Freddie Roach about his desire to score a knockout win over the Palm Springs star. He also said he wants to end his 20-year boxing career with a bang.
Roach did not exactly say how Pacquiao would carry out his KO plan but the eight-division world champ was short of confirming what Roach said about his desire to score a knockout win.
“If I get the chance (to knock him out), why not? I want to win convincingly,” said Pacquiao, who is now preparing for the the official start of his senatorial election campaign which has been set by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) on February 9.
Learning from his two previous encounters with Bradley, Pacquiao appears confident that he can score a KO win in their third meeting.
Roach believes a KO win is indeed possible because he thinks Bradley has not shown any improvement despite his KO win against Brandon Rios last November. The multi-awarded BWAP “Trainer of the Year” says Rios was an “out-of-shape” fighter when he lost to Bradley and that was the reason why Bradley looked good and dominating during the fight.
BoxingInsider.com asked Roach if Bradley can show the same power he showed in the Rios fight when he squares off with Pacquiao on April 9.
“Well, I don’t think Teddy Atlas brought anything out of him. I thought he fought an opponent who’s fat and out of shape. I mean, you can’t really judge him on that fight. The other fighter was way overweight and looked terrible so, I’ll give Teddy Atlas credit if, he does well against (Manny) Pacquiao,” Roach said.
While Atlas would be a big factor in Bradley’s corner on fight night, he isn’t expected to change Bradley’s fighting style overnight having joined the Bradley camp only late last year.
A well-motivated Bradley could give Pacquiao a nightmare on April 9 courtesy of Atlas but the Filipino star knows Bradley’s fighting style would still be the same having fought him twice before.
Pacquiao is likewise motivated as he tangles with Bradley on April 9 because it will be his farewell fight and he wants to end his career “with a bang,” as he said earlier.
A knockout win would be a tremendous boost for Pacquiao because it will show his shoulder injury has been preventing him from scoring knockout wins in his recent fights.
It may be recalled that Pacquiao had been complaining about his recurring shoulder injury long before the Mayweather fight which could indeed be the reason why he has not scored a KO win since 2009.
Pacquiao has been cleared to fight last week by his orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed the surgery on Pacquiao a few days after the Mayweather fight on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquaio has been elated by the result of the examination saying he’s now ready to go and fight.
