Manny Pacquiao: Take A Bath

Manny Pacquiao is currently at the peak of his preparation for his upcoming rematch with Timothy Bradley at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada. But the eight-time division world champion might be having some second thoughts in engaging too much with the undefeated American fighter, especially after learning that he doesn't take a bath a week before the fight.

Pacquiao, who fought many great fighters throughout his shoo-in Hall of Fame career, couldn't believed that Bradley's pre-fight ritual was not to take a shower a week leading to a fight. He was shocked to learn it during an interview with the Philippines' leading media network ABS-CBN News.

When asked what his take on Bradley's no-shower rule, the Saranngani congressman stressed it's a non-hygienic idea not to take a bath not only at fight night but every workout day, but nevertheless had no further comment on the ritual of the undefeated American fighter.

Bradley revealed his pre-fight habit in an interview with ABS-CBN correspondent Bev Llorente, saying he would continue to stick with it during his preparing for his fight with Pacquiao.

"I don't know why... that's one thing I don't do. The week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I don't take a shower. Saturday, that's when I take a shower for the first time," he said while taking a break from training.

Pacquiao and Bradley will meet again after roughly 2 years to settle the score once and for all after their first fight ended in controversy. Bradley took away Pacman's WBO Welterweight belt via 12-round split decision, but majority of boxing pundits believed Pacquiao did enough to take an easy unanimous decision win.

After that showdown, Pacquiao lost his next fight to Juan Manuel Marquez via unanimous decision before scoring a 12-round unanimous decision win over Brandon Rios in November 2013. Bradley had a couple of impressive wins against Ruslan Provodnikov and Marquez in the previous year to keep the belt around his waist.

Pacquiao will reportedly earn $20 million in his next fight, while Bradley will pocket around $7 million, not including their share on Pay-per-View buys and mechanized sales.

Larry Merchant: Pacquiao versus Bradley II ‘tossup’

The Manny Pacquiao who unanimously decisioned Brandon Rios in November won't beat the Timothy Bradley who defeated Juan Manuel Marquez in October, according to Larry Merchant.

"You can't say enough about Manny and where he was when he first came to America, and how he evolved as a boxer-puncher," Merchant told RingTV.com. "In that fight, against Rios, he fought just as a boxer. But he's not going to be able to beat Bradley just as a boxer. You can never dismiss a fighter of Manny's proven qualities.

Pacquiao - Bradley II 'Tossup'

"It's not like the man has had one bad round in 10 years or one bad 10 seconds," Merchant continued. "So you don't just dismiss him because he showed that he's still eager to do it in his last fight. The quesion is whether he can make as big a change in doing that as he would have to to beat Bradley. The question for Manny is whether he will have the ability and the fire to force a fight, and to return a little bit to his previous incarnations.

"But Tim Bradley is a younger guy and he still thinks that he's got stuff to prove, and that's what makes Bradley who he is," said Merchant. "Bradley wins every place that he goes. If there is any resistance, he wears you out. He's a damn good figher."

In his last two fights, the 30-year-old Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs) took considerable punishment but outpointed Ruslan Provodnikov via close unanimous decision last March before defeating Marquez.

Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 knockouts), who turned 35 in December, rebounded from the split-decision loss to Bradley in June 2012 and a knockout loss to Marquez in December 2012 by easily outpointing Rios.

Bradley and Pacquiao will meet again on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the site of their previous meeting.

"Against Marquez, Bradley showed that he's recovered from the Provodnikov fight, and he showed that he still was a hard guy to beat, and that he could still box against the best," said Merchant of Bradley, who reportedly fractured his left foot and sprained his right foot in the first Pacquiao bout.  "I think that if Bradley goes out with that attitude against Manny, then it makes Manny have to make the fight, and that will make it a helluva fight. In the first fight with Manny, he came out trying to show that he could fight with Manny, but then, after three or four rounds, he started to box him and he did better. I think that it's pretty clear that Bradley is going to try to come out and fight Manny the way that he fought Marquez, and that's to out-box the boxer."

"If Bradley does that, then that's going to put the burden on Manny, who is the older fighter. At the very least, Manny Pacquiao has got to make it a helluva fight. I think that it's a tossup fight. … Most people see this as a tossup. If Manny is favored, it would be primarily because of his fans backing him. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he lost in this fight. Pacquiao certainly can't fight Tim Bradley the way that he fought in his last fight against Brandon Rios. I don't know that he can fight Bradley when Bradley is fighting the way that he fought against Marquez. What I saw in the Rios fight from Manny is that you saw that he still wants to fight, and that he's in shape. He showed that he had another re-invention of himself and that's as a pure boxer for that opponent."

Pacquiao has promised to bring back his "killer instinct" for his return bout with Bradley, who questioned Pacquiao's resolve against Rios.

"Manny didn't look the same against Rios. He didn't have his usual killer instinct," said Bradley. "That's the first thing I noticed. I don't think he has the hunger anymore and it's never coming back. He no longer has his killer instinct."

Pacquiao picked up on that notion, saying that his passion has returned.

"What Bradley has been saying to me is that the killer instinct and the aggressiveness is not [there] anymore, and that I don't have that anymore. So that's what I'm trying to prove this fight on April 12. I think that he's right. Maybe I'm just too kind and too nice to my opponents sometimes in the ring," said Pacquiao, during an earlier interview.

"Yes, I'm just too kind and too nice to my opponents sometimes in the ring, and that's why you can not see the aggressiveness and the killer instinct. But this time around, I have to get it back and show that I still have that aggressiveness and that killer instinct. … To all the people who love boxing, don't miss this fight. It's going to be more action in the ring and you're going to see, in both of us, a young Manny Pacquiao and a young Tim Bradley in the ring."

Bradley's Trainer: He Can't Hurt Him Now

Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. are set to face off on April 12, 2014 for their rematch bout, and according to IBTimes, Bradley's trainer, Joel Diaz, says he and his ward are gunning for a knockout win.

Manny can't hurt Timothy now

He believes in the upcoming rematch, Bradley might have a hard time winning through judge's decision against the Filipino boxer. He also thinks that if the second fight ends in a decision, there's a big chance that Pacquiao will be crowned as the winner of the bout, assuming that since boxing is still considered as a business venture, judges will side with Pacquiao in the rematch simply because "there's more money to be made with Manny Pacquiao."

So, in order to prove who the better fighter is, a knockout is a must. Diaz is confident that the Filipino boxing legislator will have a hard time fighting against Bradley because during their last fight, the welterweight titlist suffered an injury on both feet but Pacquiao still failed to KO him.

Bradley is also feeling confident in his upcoming fight. According to LATimes, he said, "I know what to expect this time; it's like riding a bike -- the second time is easier."

But even though Bradley believes that Pacquiao's "every punch was a death blow", he senses that the former champ has lost his motivation. "I feel the killer instinct is gone," Bradley commented.

Pacquiao is back with Justin Fortune

Manny Pacquiao with a current record 55-5-2, 38 KO’s will be helped out with his training by strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune when Pacquiao arrives back in the United States to start working out at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California.

Pacquiao recently let go his valuable S & C coach Alex Ariza, the guy who arguably was responsible for making Pacquiao a success at welterweight.

Manny Pacquiao is ready for rematch with Bradley

Fortune needs to try and get Pacquiao to where he was around the time that he fought Miguel Cotto in 2009. He was at his best during that brief moment, and ever since then, Pacquiao hasn’t looked the same. The strength and fire seem to be gone from his body, and he just looks tired a lot of the time.

Fortune was Pacquiao’s conditioning coach years ago before Ariza took over the job, and he was successful in helping Pacquiao. Of course, Pacquiao was a lot younger back then so his conditioning was less important than it is now. Unfortunately, Pacquiao can no longer go out and overpower the guys that Bob Arum matches him up against from his Top Rank stable, and that’s why conditioning is much more important for him.

Pacquiao was knocking guys out left and right when Fortune was working with him. Pacquiao is now gone through a dry spell in his career where he hasn’t knocked out an opponent in 5 years since his controversial stoppage win over Miguel Cotto in 2009. A lot of boxing fans feel that the Pacquiao-Cotto fight shouldn’t have been halted because Cotto was still fighting back in the 12th round when the referee halted it. If you ignore that fight, then Pacquiao doesn’t have a knockout since his 2nd round TKO win over Ricky Hatton in May of 2009.

Pacquiao can probably beat Bradley no matter who is putting him through his paces. This is a fight that Pacquiao has all the advantages in, and the only way he blows it is by fighting passively like he did in their previous bout in 2012. But for the tougher opponents, Pacquiao is going to need Fortune to help build up his strength and conditioning.

If all Pacquiao is going to be fighting from this point forward are rematches with Bradley and fights against the likes of Mikey Garcia, Brandon Rios, Mike Alvarado and Ruslan Provodnikov, then he should be okay with a special S & C coach. But if he’s going to fight Juan Manuel Marquez again and face some quality guys like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Keith Thurman, then Pacquiao is going to need a lot of help with getting him back to where he was in 2009.

Manny Pacquiao will get another break at Timothy Bradley

Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley will meet on April 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in a rematch of their questionable 2012 welterweight title session.

The arrangement was concluded mid-Saturday morning when Top Rank got Bradley to consent to terms. Top Rank president Todd duboef said the arrangement will guarantee the organization "has a long haul association with Tim paying little heed to if he wins or loses," on April 12.

Pacquiao vs. Bradley II - The Rematch

Bradley won the first session, on June 9, 2012, in Las Vegas, in a hotly questioned part choice. Most spectators felt that Pacquiao had won the session. Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank was outraged to the point that he called for the Nevada lawyer general to research.

The WBO, which endorsed the 2012 session and will endorse the April match for its welterweight title, additionally led an examination and verified that Pacquiao demand to win. Its discoveries had no bearing on the conclusion, however Bradley holds the WBO title and it will be at stake on April 12.

Not, one or the other of the two judges who scored that battle 115-113, or seven rounds to five, energetic about Bradley are still dynamic judges. Duane Ford and C.j. Ross both stepped far from judging. Ross surrendered under flame after she scored the 2013 session between Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez a draw when most thought the battle was effectively in Mayweather's support.

"It's set to be an alternate battle in light of the fact that Rios and I are diverse sort of contenders," Bradley said. "Rios is not a sluggard. He's a huge puncher, and I'm a lighter puncher than he is. Rios stung him a few times in there, yet Manny didn't attempt to complete. He appeared a touch shy and would not like to captivate. Me, I'm a lighter puncher, and I think he'll feel he has the preference the extent that power and will attempt to take me out.

"I'm an alternate sort of a warrior. I've been in the ring with him recently and I know him and he knows me. I'm set to need to set up a strategy that will help me dispense with the slip-ups I made and to exploit the ones he makes."

Pacquiao is ensured $20 million and Bradley is ensured $6 million. Both have pay-for every perspective upside in their arrangements.

Pacquiao will bring back the killer instinct

Manny Pacquiao is out to demonstrate something to Timothy Bradley and whatever is left of the boxing scene.

“This is a mission to prove I am the best,” said Pacquiao during Thursday’s press gathering at New World Stages in New York City to promote his April 12 fight in Las Vegas against Bradley.  “All I know is I want to get back that belt he won off of me.”

Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 Kos) said he was "excessively fantastic" in his first battle against Bradley  (31-0, 12 Kos, 1 NC).

Pacquiao - Killer Instinct

"It will be distinctive now.  He'll be discussing my executioner impulse at the closure of this battle," said the 35-year-old Sarangani delegate.

Pacquiao said Bradley, the WBO welterweight champion, knows he didn't win their past battle.

Bradley took Pacquiao's welterweight title by means of a dubious part choice in June 2012 to hand the Filipino superstar his first annihilation in seven years.

Still, Pacquiao complimented the 30-year-old Bradley.

"He has enhanced a great deal since the first battle," Pacquiao told
"When I see him, he's much not the same as some time recently."

Joel Diaz, Bradley's mentor, advised Boxinginsider.com his contender need to take risks.

"He can't move around and abandon it to the judges.  We need to go for broke and make it a battle," said Diaz.

Inquired as to whether his executioner sense might make as a knockout, Pacquiao said he doesn't require one to defeat Bradley.

"I only need to win convincingly," he said.  "I'm prepared for anything."

Pacquiao outpointed American Brandon Rios in his last battle held in Macau in November while Bradley scored a part choice win over Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez last October.

"I'm in an alternate position now than I was the first occasion when I confronted Manny Pacquiao," Bradley told Northjersey.com. "I'm a considerable measure more loose, a ton more balanced now. Manny said he's set to be the combative, dangerous Manny Pacquiao of old times. I get energized in light of the fact that I grasp the test."