Bradley 'is best bet on the line' to fight Pacquiao

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

CEBU CITY -- If Manny Pacquiao doesn’t face Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his ring comeback, renowned boxing trainer Freddie Roach believes that Timothy Bradley would be the best alternate.

“I think that we need some new blood in there, and Bradley poses a little bit of a problem,” said Roach in a report posted at The Ring Magazine website. “So I would rather go with Tim Bradley than Miguel Cotto or somebody else.”

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Aside from Mayweather Jr. and Bradley, the other fighters that Pacquiao is considering are Cotto, Lamont Peterson and Juan Manuel Marquez.

“I haven’t talked to anyone yet, but I think that [Top Rank CEO] Bob Arum’s choices, to me, are Cotto or Bradley,” Roach said. “I don’t think that Mayweather is going to happen until November. I think that’s going to be the best date for that fight.”

Booked

Mayweather Jr. booked a fight for May 5 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and called out Pacquiao to face him. However, Arum wants the Mayweather Jr.-Pacquiao super fight to be at the end of May, wherein he will put up a temporary arena, which can hold a bigger crowd of around 40,000 boxing fans.

“Floyd calling us out is one thing, but there’s a lot of negotiation that goes along with him calling us out. But I think that his move is a positive step,” said Roach.

“So I think that the fight will happen now. It’s just that it’s the sooner, the better for me. I haven’t talked to Bob or Manny yet, but I’m waiting for a call right now actually.”

Bradley, 28, is the current World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion with an unbeaten 28-0 record with 12 knockouts. Facing Pacquiao could mean that he will move up a division higher to the welterweight division.

“I’d rather go with Bradley, because the Cotto thing is probably going to end the same way, I think. I think that Cotto’s doing very well in his career,” said Roach. “But I just think that if he fights Manny Pacquiao, the same thing is going to happen as the last time. At least with Tim Bradley, he has two pretty good punches and a really good headbutt. So that’s something different to be concerned about.”