Timothy Bradley won’t need the start of training camp to develop a game plan for Manny Pacquiao. He already has had one for more than three years.
That’s how long Bradley has been studying Pacquiao, preparing for the day they would meet in the ring. That day will be June 9, when the undefeated junior welterweight champion tries to end the reign of the Filipino superstar at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“I’ve watched all of his fights, especially when he had those breakout moments against Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez,” Bradley said this week. “I definitely watched all those trilogies. I love to look at fighters’ weaknesses and strengths and come up with a game plan.”
His game plan includes being relentless.
“I’m young and energetic, and he hasn’t fought a young, energetic fighter that’s willing to take risks in the ring in a very long time,” Bradley said, underselling recent Pacquiao opponents such as Marquez and Miguel Cotto. “I feel it’s going to be a great fight.”
Bradley, 28, became Pacquiao’s consolation opponent after talks for a Pacquiao bout with Floyd Mayweather never got serious. Pacquiao and Mayweather actually spoke on the telephone, and Mayweather declined to offer Pacquiao a piece of the pay-per-view revenue. At least that’s Pacquiao’s version. Mayweather surely will tell his side when he holds his press conference at the Apollo Theater on Tuesday to hype his bout with Cotto.
Bottom line: Instead of Mayweather-Pacquiao we get Pacquiao-Bradley and Mayweather-Cotto. It’s not exactly what boxing fans wanted, but not a bad set of consolation prizes.
Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs) is experienced enough, fast enough and determined enough to give Pacquiao trouble.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a good fight because of Tim Bradley’s style,” Pacquiao said. “He loves to fight toe-to-toe, and he keeps coming.”
Bradley craves what Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) has — fame, fortune and his face on an electronic billboard in Times Square. It is part of a sponsorship deal Pacquiao has with Hennessy that includes a commercial. It prompted Pacquiao to plug his two favorite things during his press conference: Christianity and cognac.
“I’d encourage all of you to please read the Bible because that’s the commandments of God,” he said before adding, “It’s good to be a partner with Hennessy. My TV commercial is going to be a good commercial, so thank you Hennessy.”
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When HBO hired Ken Hershman as its president of Sports, it was like having Eli Manning sign to play quarterback for the Patriots. As the general manager of Showtime Sports, Hershman spent much of his career trying to outperform HBO. Now, he is in charge of his former rival and off to a solid start in 2012.
The first two major pay-per-view fights of 2012 — Maywether-Cotto and Pacquiao-Bradley — will be produced and distributed by HBO PPV. There are other gems on the schedule. Hard-punching Marcos Maidana faces the slick-fisted Devon Alexander tonight in a 10-round welterweight bout in St. Louis. Also, Adrien Boner defends his WBO junior lightweight title against Eloy Perez. Other upcoming fights on HBO include: middleweight champion Sergio Martinez vs. Matthew Macklin on March 17 at the Garden Theater; Erik Morales vs. Danny Garcia on March 24 in Houston; Brandon Rios vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa for the WBA lightweight title on April 14 in Las Vegas; and Bernard Hopkins’ rematch with Chad Dawson on April 28 in Atlantic City.
“I don’t think we could have asked for anything better in the first half,” Hershman said.
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Top Rank boss Bob Arum, a diehard Giants fan, said he won about $40,000 betting on the Big Blue during their Super Bowl run. As a graduate of Harvard Law School, he also has become a big fan of Jeremy Lin and the Knicks.
“They finally got a Harvard point guard,” Arum said. “That’s why they’re winning.”
