Timothy Bradley determined to beat Manny Pacquiao

By Lance Pugmire

May 16, 2012 12 AM PT

Timothy Bradley has questions to answer about his ability to maintain his speed with seven more pounds on, along with how he will fare under the hot lights of a pay-per-view main event in Las Vegas.

The unbeaten Cathedral City boxer readying for his June 9 world welterweight title bout against Manny Pacquiao shrugged off that scrutiny, instead expressing the advantages he’ll have over the Filipino superstar who labored to a victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in November.

“I can box, I can brawl, I’m well-conditioned -- no one is more conditioned than me,” Bradley, 28, said.

That’s quite a statement given Pacquiao’s past fanatic regimen that included morning runs to the Hollywood sign, exhaustive training and sparring at Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, topped off in the past by basketball games.

Pacquiao, who’s suffered through shin splints in his last two fights, has stopped the basketball and toned down his conditioning a bit to account for the past issues.

Bradley has his own demonic workout, routinely going for 10-mile runs in the desert regardless of the temperature, while pushed by a drill-sergeant-like father. He said his body fat is 3%.

“I’m right there with Pacquiao and [Floyd] Mayweather,” Bradley said in a telephone interview set up last week by supplement company USANA.

Bradley also critiqued Pacquiao’s recent foes Marquez, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley and Joshua Clottey as “old, straight-forward fighters.”

“I slip, slide, bob and weave,” Bradley said. “I have good footwork. For Manny, he’ll be looking at himself when he sees me. The only advantage he has on me is his power. But I can go to the body if he gets reckless. I’m young, in my prime, and I have a lot of confidence and swagger. I don’t fear this guy. He’s just a guy to me. He hasn’t proved he’s better.”

Bradley referred to Pacquiao’s recent bouts -- he has four consecutive victories by decision -- as “lackadaisical.... He’ll have to dig down deep to beat me.”

Can he handle the spotlight? Bradley has gone to England to take a world junior-welterweight belt from Junior Witter, but his other big wins were before a sparse Bell Centre in Montreal, a triumph over Lamont Peterson at Agua Caliente Casino Resort in Rancho Mirage, and an undercard victory over veteran Joel Casamayor on the Pacquiao-Marquez III undercard.

“Once I step in that ring, I own it, bro,” he said.

Bradley said he believes “Pacquiao thinks he’ll knock me out in a couple rounds. He’s taking me lightly, not showing up to practice [last week after feeling some jet-lag effects]. I’ve been an underdog my whole career. You think Marquez gave him a tough time? I’m going to be all over him.”

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Timothy Bradley determined to beat Manny Pacquiao