Bradley calls Pacquiao 'the best guy I've ever faced'

American boxer Timothy Bradley Jr. had nothing but praise for Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao after their entertaining 12-round welterweight showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

Bradley made a good account of himself in the early rounds but was knocked down in the seventh and again in the ninth by the "Pacman." Pacquiao wound up winning a unanimous decision, marking the second time that he had beaten Bradley in their trilogy.

"He's the best guy I've ever faced, honestly," said Bradley, as quoted by Yahoo! Sports, after the fight. "He's explosive, he has a lot of experience, a lot of power, a lot of speed, and he's the best I've ever faced in the ring."


In an interview immediately after the fight, Bradley admitted that he "barely" remembers what happened in the 12 rounds.

"I did my best out there… He (Pacquiao) just fought a great fight," he said. "He's strong, he's explosive. He was good, he was great. He was on point tonight."

"I fought my game plan, but he was just on point tonight. He was faster, he was quicker, he was stronger. He did everything right, and he did what he had to do to get the victory," he added.

Bradley was the busier but less accurate fighter, and was frustrated at his inability to land his right hand with regularity. In contrast, Pacquiao often found a target for his left hand, most notably in the ninth when he connected flush to Bradley's face and sent the American tumbling to the mat.


"Manny was strong the entire fight, and he was also very patient," Bradley said, as quoted by Boxing Scene. "I wasn't professional enough to stay patient myself, and I walked into shots.

Bradley's trainer, Teddy Atlas, had some issues with the first knock down in the seventh round, when it appeared that Pacquiao pushed Bradley as much as he punched him. Other than that, however, Atlas was similarly effusive in his praise for the "Pacman."

"Pacquiao did a great job in there," he said, as quoted by Yahoo! Sports. "Give Pacquiao credit. I didn't do a good enough job for Bradley."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pacquiao beats Bradley in final fight

Pacquiao knocks down Bradley twice, wins via UD

 In what may be the last fight of his storied boxing career, Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao put on an entertaining show, as he knocked down Timothy Bradley JR. twice en route to a unanimous decision victory at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday in Manila).

The three judges scored the bout 116-110 across the board for Pacquiao, who overcame a slow start and clinched victory with knockdowns in the seventh and ninth rounds.

The win gave the "Pacman" the WBO international welterweight championship.

The Filipino icon grew stronger as the fight went on, taking over in the second half of the match en route to the 58th – and last – victory of his legendary career.

"Physically, if you ask me, I'm still okay, I can still fight," Pacquiao said afterward. "But I made my decision to go back to the Philippines and help the people, and spend time with my family."

It was a close fight in the first six rounds, with Bradley fighting in a disciplined style and keeping Pacquiao off with his jab while repeatedly looking for an opening to land a huge right hand.

However, Pacquiao repeatedly evaded Bradley's wild swings, and in the seventh round, he landed the first definitive punch of the fight with a short right hand that forced the American boxer to touch both gloves to the mat.

Bradley survived the count, and Pacquiao tried to go for the win. The American boxer survived the round, however, and came back with an impressive effort in the eighth round. Bradley arguably won the ninth round, scoring with a huge flurry that pushed the "Pacman" into the ropes and had him side-stepping to avoid Bradley's punches.

Looking to build on his huge eighth round, Bradley came out aggressive in the ninth, but unfortunately for the American, it only worked to his disadvantage. With Bradley looking to come in with a right hand, Pacquiao landed a counter-left hand straight to the American's face, sending him tumbling down on the canvas.

"This was different from the last two fights, because I'm looking for a knockout in every round," Pacquiao said after the fight.

A desperate Bradley became even more aggressive in the final three rounds, but his swings mostly hit air or were blocked by Pacquiao. In the 12th, with the victory at hand, Pacquiao stood toe-to-toe with his foe and exchanged punches – and again, he got the better of Bradley who got tangled on the ropes seconds before the final bell rang.

"He's a tough opponent," Pacquiao said of Bradley. "He survived the 12 rounds. But I'm not careless. I'm not doing careless (things) in the ring. (I used) the counter punch, the uppercut and the straight, and that was my plan even in training."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Tale of the tape: Pacquiao vs Bradley 3

Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. will square off for the third time on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Here's how they match up.

Pacquiao, who is fighting for the last time, is hoping to end his career with a big bang.

Bradley, meanwhile, wants to prove that his split-decision win over Pacquiao in 2012 was no fluke.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

From $20 to $20 million, Pacquiao's journey to final payday

LAS VEGAS -- Twenty-one years after clambering through the ropes for his first professional fight, Manny Pacquiao will make the long walk to the ring for what could well be the final time on Saturday in Las Vegas.

It will complete one of the most vivid rags-to-riches journeys in a sport that is famous for them, an odyssey which has taken him from a $20 purse to a reported $20 million payday for this weekend's finale against Tim Bradley.

A lot has changed for Pacquiao since January 25 1995, when as a skinny 16-year-old he outpointed Edmund Enting Ignacio in a four-round bout before a few hundred spectators on the wild and rugged Philippines island of Mindoro.

Pacquiao traveled to that fight by ferry, buying his own ticket for the three-hour boat ride from Manila for a contest which earned him 1,000 pesos, approximately $21 dollars at today's rate of exchange.

"It was very small," Pacquiao recalled here Wednesday as he prepared for his third and final meeting with Bradley.

"But it was my desire to box. At that time I boxed because I wanted to help my mother, and my family."

- 'We had no money' -

Boxing provided Pacquiao with an escape from crushing poverty.

"We had no money. I was the breadwinner. I helped send my brother to school, I worked at boxing," he said.

"I loved doing it because I was helping my family. When you have nothing you don't care how hard the work is."

Since that meager first purse, Pacquiao's fights have generated an estimated $500 million, swollen by his cut from last year's money-spinning "Fight of the Century" against Floyd Mayweather which ended in defeat.

Pacquiao will bank another bumper paycheck this weekend.

Even allowing for the fact that Saturday's bout has struggled to generate the crackle of anticipation that surrounded his iconic battles with the likes of Mayweather, Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton, Pacquiao remains big box office.

Bob Arum, the legendary 84-year-old promoter, pinpoints Pacquiao's narrative arc as the source of the Filipino's enduring appeal.

"He's just a great story," Arum said. "A rags to riches story. A kid from the streets of the Philippines, lived in a cardboard shack. Worked his way up, comes to the United States ... becomes one of the biggest fighters of our time.

"I was in boxing for a long time before Manny arrived. I remember all the Filipinos. Some of them were good. Some were OK. None of them were great. Manny is great."

- A stained legacy? -

Yet the final phase of Pacquiao's career has been overshadowed by an ugly controversy the devoutly religious fighter ignited in February when he asserted that homosexuals were "worse than animals."

Those comments, just months after same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States, triggered a wave of revulsion and have threatened to leave an indelible stain on Pacquiao's legacy.

Sponsors led by Nike swiftly cut their ties, and Pacquiao was reminded of the deep anger caused by his comments on Sunday when he was verbally abused by a man outside a restaurant in Los Angeles.

Even Arum could not hide his dismay at the controversy.

"There are people who hold sincere religious beliefs against same sex marriage and homosexuality," Arum said.

"The problem is that Manny didn't leave it there. He made analogies to try and justify his position, and those analogies got him in trouble because they're very hurtful. And they're wrong."

Pacquiao insists the controversy has not distracted him from the job in hand, and he remains focused on Bradley and his own burgeoning political career.

Pacquiao's determination to help the poor in his homeland has been a central theme of his pursuit of public office.

Elected to the country's congress in 2010, he is running for a seat in the country's Senate in polls next month.

"I'm taking this fight and then going back to the Philippines to focus on politics, to help the poor people," Pacquiao said.

Both Arum and Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach have expressed scepticism however that the fighter will stay retired.

"I still think he has a lot left in him," Roach said.

"There's some interesting fights out there."

Arum agreed.

"I think if he wins this fight well, he's going to find a way to continue," he said.

"If you've been doing something and doing something well since you were seven or eight years old it's a tough thing to give up."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com