Hungry Bradley will beat Pacquiao, says former champ Juan Diaz

Ryan Songalia

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Hungry Bradley will beat Pacquiao, says former champ Juan Diaz
'Pacquiao is on his way out,' says former lightweight champion Juan Diaz, who is picking Bradley to win a decision over Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao may be favored by most in his third fight against Timothy Bradley, but a few boxing personalities are thinking that Bradley has the chance of a lifetime to earn a win on April 9. 

One of them is former lightweight champion Juan Diaz, who tells Rappler.com that he’s picking Bradley to send Pacquiao into retirement with a points win at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“I think I’m gonna have to go with Bradley on this one. I feel like he’s gonna be the one to have the better focus and going to dedicate himself 100% to this fight. He’s gonna be a hungrier fighter,” Diaz (41-4, 20 knockouts) said of the trilogy-completing bout. 

“Pacquiao is on his way out. If I’m not mistaken, this might be his last fight. So I think he’s doing this more as a farewell to all his fans and not really to actually make a statement and win this fight.”

Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) is fighting for the first time since his unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr last May and says this bout will be his last as he prepares for a full-time career in politics. The 37-year-old Filipino boxing legend is running for a seat in the Philippine Senate when general elections take place on May 9. 

Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) won a controversial decision in their first fight in 2012, while Pacquiao earned revenge with a competitive decision win in their rematch.

Bradley is fighting for just the second time under new trainer Teddy Atlas. The verbose New Yorker helped bring out the urgency in the 32-year-old Californian in their first fight together, a ninth round technical knockout of Brandon Rios. 

Diaz thinks the result was no coincidence.

“I saw him go in there and use his boxing ability, be smarter in there. He went in there calm and composed and really took it to Brandon Rios.  

“I think Teddy Atlas did a great job in trying to tweak his boxing ability and really showing him what he can do, instead of going in there and slugging it out.” 

Juan Diaz (L), seen during his 2007 fight against Julio Diaz, thinks Bradley can win if he remains disciplined. Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/EPA

Diaz, who unified the WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight titles in 2007, has noticed a decline in Pacquiao’s ability, which he thinks is indicative of waning interest in the sport. 

“I sure have seen him decline steadily. Steadily he’s been coming down,” said Diaz, who has won 6 straight since ending a nearly 3-year retirement in 2013.

“We’ve seen in his previous fights, he hasn’t been knocking guys out. He hasn’t been landing those crisp, hard punches like he would in the past against [Oscar] De la Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, all those guys. I believe it was after that [Juan Manuel] Marquez knockout [in 2012], even in that fight he was already losing his age and didn’t seem like he had that hunger anymore.” 

(READ: Roach expects Bradley to revert to old fighting style in third Pacquiao fight)

Diaz doesn’t see a knockout taking place in this fight, however. He thinks Bradley can hang on to win if he avoids his tendency to trade punches. 

“I think it’s gonna be a decision. Bradley, from what I’ve seen, he’s polished his boxing skills and definitely doesn’t want to mix it up in there. I think it’s to Bradley’s benefit not to mix it up in there but Pacquiao can outpoint him and outbox him,” said Diaz. – Rappler.com

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