Manny Pacquiao Arrives in Los Angeles, Ready for Bradley and reacts to Mayweather/Cotto bout

by Jorge Alarcon-Swaby

On May 5th, as Floyd Maywather Jr accomplished a dominating performance over Miguel Cotto at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, his biggest rival in the sport of boxing, Congressman Manny Pacquiao arrived in Los Angeles from the Philippines. Team Pacquiao will resume training in the familiar and famous Wild Card Boxing Gym in Hollywood for his June 9th bout against undefeated 28 year old WBO Junior Welterweight Champion Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs), of Palm Springs, Calif.

When asked if he had seen the Mayweather vs Cotto fight, the congressman simply stated “It was a good fight and everyone was happy,”

The fight between boxing’s two most acclaimed fighters does not seem to be any close to finally becoming a reality. With drug testing, according to Team Pacquiao no longer being an issue, Mayweather has publicly stated that he will not offer Pacquiao a 50/50 purse split under any circumstances, something that does not sit well with Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum.

If in fact the fight was the ever happen, Pacquiao’s head trainer Freddie Roach said when asked if “Manny would beat Floyd?, Roach replied “You bet”, adding “The way to beat Floyd is to outwork him every minute of every round. Manny is the only one capable of executing that game plan. Activity kills Mayweather. You need to stay busy against him and not let him dictate the pace by slowing down the fight. Southpaws are his other weakness. Manny is just a bad combination for Floyd to fight. If it would bring Floyd into the ring, I’d agree to have Manny fight him right handed.”

Roach also took the time for a personal jab at Mayweather, saying “I did not see the Mayweather-Cotto fight but I do know that Floyd’s slippery defense is now better outside the ring than inside the ring. But that is the path he has chosen.”

When asked if he was thinking about retirement, Pacquiao said that the idea was not running through his mind at this moment, adding “I still love what I’m doing,” When asked about Mayweather’s hint at retirement himself, Pacquiao said “I have no opinion on Mayweather’s plans to retire. That’s his decision. A very personal decision”

In every Pacquiao training camp there is always talk of distractions and obstacles. Problems ranging anywhere from issues with his strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, to conflicts between his Christian religion and the brutality of the sport which has made him a star.

Regardless, his head trainer Freddie Roach insisted that this training camp has been going great. He went on to say “We are on a steady pace to get Manny to where he will peak on June 9. We built a good base to build on in our training in the Philippines. Now it’s time for the hard work and the strategy. We had a good session today. Manny went a strong 10 rounds with me today on the mitts.”

Timothy Bradley has an unbeaten record of 28-0, but he has never faced a fighter of Pacquiao’s magnitude or skill set. On June 9th that unblemished record will put to the test against the best.

The Pacquiao vs. Bradley welterweight championship collision will take place Saturday, June 9, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The event will be produced and distributed Live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m.

You can also catch the first episode HBO’s Emmy-Award®-winning show ‘24/7’ on HBO and CNN starting May 19.