Pacquiao to fight Bradley on June 9 at MGM Grand
A little over a week after Floyd Mayweather Jr. was licensed to fight May 5, his archrival — everywhere but inside a boxing ring, that is — announced his next bout.
Manny Pacquiao, the WBO welterweight champion, signed a contract Friday to face WBC junior welterweight champ Timothy Bradley on June 9 at the MGM Grand Garden.
The fight will be at 147 pounds with Pacquiao’s title at stake. It will be the first fight for Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 knockouts) since he defeated Juan Manuel Marquez by majority decision on Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand.
Bradley’s most recent fight came the same night when he stopped Joel Casamayor late in the eighth round on the undercard of Pacquiao-Marquez III.
Ticket information for Pacquiao-Bradley will be announced late next week by Top Rank Inc., which is promoting the bout. The fight will be televised on pay per view, though no cable system has been signed to carry it.
“I’ve waited my whole life for this opportunity,” Bradley said from his home in Palm Springs, Calif. “This is not a walk in the park. I’m probably a 5-1 underdog. But everyone will see how hard I train, and when I beat Manny Pacquiao on June 9, that’ll shut up everyone who has been critical of me.”
Pacquiao is expected to make a minimum of $22 million, while Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs, one no decision) will make $5 million, the largest payday of his career. His biggest purse to date was $1.5 million when he beat Devon Alexander in January 2011.
Pacquiao was unavailable for comment, but trainer Freddie Roach said his fighter will not overlook Bradley.
“Manny knows that Timothy Bradley is a dangerous opponent,” Roach said. “Tim is an undefeated world champion who has youth, speed and power. It’s going to be a firefight and we will leave nothing to chance in this training camp. We have our work cut out for us.”
Bradley’s manager Cameron Dunkin said his fighter is deserving of the opportunity for a megafight against Pacquiao.
“It’s very gratifying for Tim,” Dunkin said. “He’s been through a rough stretch. People called Tim a coward after the Alexander fight because he supposedly didn’t want to fight (Amir) Khan and that was tough and Alexander got right back on TV. But now the world will get to see what a truly great fighter Tim is.”
Bradley said the key to his training camp in preparing for Pacquiao will be learning to stay patient.
“I think (Pacquaio) will give me some opportunities to hurt him, but it’s going to be up to me to take advantage of it,” Bradley said. “Sometimes, I get impatient and bored and I can’t allow myself to do that against Pacquiao.”
With a mega-showdown between Pacquiao and Mayweather failing to materialize, Bradley was kept on the back burner. Once Mayweather moved forward with his plan to fight Miguel Cotto on May 5, Top Rank president Todd duBoef quickly turned his attention to pairing Bradley, who signed with Top Rank last fall, against Pacquiao, the company’s biggest star.
“I give Manny credit for fighting someone in his prime,” duBoef said of Bradley, 28. “Timmy’s the most accomplished fighter at 140 pounds and it’s going to be a tough fight for Manny. Bradley’s an excellent boxer who’s undefeated and has something to prove. I think that makes him very dangerous.”
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.