Pacquiao vs Bradley: First Round Will Determine Rest of Fight, Says Bradley

Timothy Bradley says that he'll know in the first round against Manny Pacquiao whether or not he'll be winning the fight. In an interview with The Boxing Lab, Bradley also says he's just preparing to make sure that he'll be able to back up his pre-fight confidence:

"I'm just thinking about backing up everything I've said. I'm just thinking about doing what I got to do. I want to see what it feels like when I step in with the best pound for pound."

... "I will know in the first round if I am going to win the fight. I will know if it's going to be an easy or a difficult fight. I want to test his speed, his power. It only takes me two rounds to figure guys out."

In their Face Off interview with Max Kellerman, Bradley's trainer Joel Diaz said that the first few rounds are crucial, and that they always like to start slow:

Diaz: "If you want to take him out, you gotta take him out when he's not even warmed up, and that's in the early rounds."

Kellerman: "Does that mean that early on you gotta take it easy, because you don't wanna get caught cold?"

Diaz: "We always do that."

Bradley's tactical claim here, and that of Diaz, are fairly well substantiated by Bradley's previous performances. He's notable for his ability to adjust very, very well to his opponents. He's faced a lot of different styles and thus far has been able to beat them all.

Of course, there's no one quite like Manny Pacquiao.

As much as I like Bradley's attitude going into this fight, this quote strikes me as sort of arrogant -- almost ignoring that Manny Pacquiao is, indeed, Manny Pacquiao, and not Kendall Holt or Lamont Peterson or Devon Alexander or Junior Witter or tired ass Joel Casamayor.

Bradley's got a good record, takes challenges, hasn't been afraid to fight, but this is a new level. I don't know if it benefits him to pretend it isn't, or if it would benefit him to acknowledge that it is.

Either way, I have my doubts that he'll know in the first round if he will win. The only thing I can really see happening in the first round is him finding out if he can't.