Bradley says youth will be key vs Pacquiao

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Unbeaten American boxer Timothy Bradley feels his youth will give him an edge once he faces off against Filipino ring icon Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.



Bradley, who is undefeated through his 28 professional matches, is only 28 years old.

"What I bring to the table, at this time, is youthfulness," he told RingTV's Lem Satterfield.

"I'm only 28, and he's 33 years old. I bring that to the event, as well as my skill and my speed and my footspeed as well," Bradley added.

Bradley noted that Pacquiao has "fought guys that were a lot older, who were not in their prime."

"But I'm right in my prime. So that's the difference between me and Pacquiao's last fight and the fight that he’s going to have on June 9," he said.

Pacquiao's last opponent, Juan Manuel Marquez, was 38 years old when they fought last November 2011. Despite the age difference, Pacquiao still struggled and only managed a controversial majority decision.

But Bradley is not going to simply bank on his youth.

"I've got to work extemely hard in this fight... all the way around. With the training and everything. This is just a different animal," he said.

He said he is already looking forward to exchanging punches with Pacquiao, who is noted for his offensive-minded style of boxing.

"You have two guys who are going to be willing to get into exchanges with one another. In the past, I have fought some guys who were not necessarily willing to exchange with me," Bradley said.

"Once I hit them in the face, they pretty much stayed away from the exchanges. But you've got two guys who like to think about offense first and defense second. That's how I approach a lot of my fights, and this is not going to be any different," he added.

Although Bradley emphasized that he respects Pacquiao, especially for the Filipino's achievements as an eight-division champion, he remains confident that he can pull off an upset.

"Pacquiao's a great fighter. I'm just looking for my opportunity to be able to exploit some of his weaknesses, and that's pretty much it," he said.

"I feel that I'm very capable and I'm motivated and I very much believe that I can win this fight."