Q&A: Bradley's seasoned for southpaws heading into Pacquiao fight

Tim Bradley will be facing a southpaw for the third straight fight when he challenges Manny Pacquiao on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Rated No. 8 pound-for-pound by THE RING, Bradley (28-0, 12 knockouts) is coming off an eighth-round knockout of faded former lightweight champ Joel Casamayor on the undercard of Pacquiao's disputed majority decision over Juan Manuel Marquez in November.

Casamayor was the second southpaw in a row for Bradley, who is 28, with the other being Devon Alexander, whom he defeated by decison for the WBC's junior welterweight belt in January of last year.

In addition to his experience with southpaws, Bradley says watching the last Marquez fight gave him some valuable knowledge of how do deal with the 33-year-old Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs).

RingTV.com spoke to Bradley about Pacquaio, the promotion and his strategy briefly in this Q&A.

RingTV.com: So you're a coach with your son's football team?

Tim Bradley: No, well, I'm not really listed on the coaching staff, but I'll go in there and I'll put my two cents in. The team is definitely already working hard. But the season doesn't officially start until September.

But we're going to actually start training pretty soon. We'll actually start training in June, and we'll train all the way until August, and the season starts in September.

RingTV.com: But you won't be able to work with your son steadily after you begin training for Pacquiao, right?

TB: Nah. I'll be starting in April, so in the next couple of weeks. I'll probably do about 10 weeks for the training camp. I'll be starting in April. But I'm already in great shape because I stay in training. I work out regularly about five days a week.

I just have something one day every day of the week, whether it's running, boxing or strength and conditioning. But I just make sure that I definitely stay active and keep my body in shape and toned up.

RingTV.com: Has the pre-fight been any different than any other?

TB: I think that a lot of people, especially here in my home town, they're definitely rooting for me. They want me to be successful and to win. A lot of people are rooting for me and praying for me and everything.

I really appreciate everyone who is looking out for me. They're believing in me and just definitely riding with me. I know a lot of people out here are definitely getting behind me.

RingTV.com: How do you mean?

TB: Well, when I go running, or whatever, it seems like I get a wave from every other car or there's someone honking their horns at me. I run in the morning and then I run at night. The attention level is very high.

There is a lot of attention on my right now. Everybody that I run into, lately, they're like, "are you training champ?" or "have you started your training yet?"

Or, "are you in the gym?" Everybody's just very concerned and making sure that I'm on my game that night. They're all pulling for me. That's been a little bit different. Just the amount of attention that I've gotten.

RingTV.com: What did you take away from the third Pacquiao-Marquez fight?

TB: The Marquez fight, it really showed me a lot. Marquez has the fine ability to frustrate and to counter punch. Marquez was definitely able to lay back and to counter punch and stuff like that.

He was able to isolate Pacquiao at times with solid counter punching and he was able to make Manny think in there. I think that he did very well and that he was successful. But I'm not Marquez.

I bring my own flavor to the ring. I have my gameplan, and I definitely know what worked for Marquez. I'm going to try to add some of that to my arsenal.

But at the end of the day, man, it's going to be about my style and what I'm planning to do. I have a plan, and my job is to go out and execute it, and if I can do that, then I'm going to be successful.

RingTV.com: Has the intensity of the promotion begun to affect you yet, with appearances and things such as that?

TB: Well, you know, it's just like any other fight. People are like, "you're in the biggest fight of your life," and "you're in the biggest fight of your career."

Yeah, this is the biggest fight of my life. But this is just like every other fight that I have ever had. To me, though, it's just a fight that I have to be ready for.

I'm fighting one of the best in the world, but it's just another fight to me. I'm not caught up in all of the hype. It's not my job to do that.

It's my job to go out there and do what I need to do, and what I've set out to do, and that's to dominate. That's what I do every time that I get into the ring. It's no different with Pacquiao.

RingTV.com: Will the fact that your last two fights were against southpaws, Alexander and Casamayor, helped you in your view against the left-handed Pacquiao?

TB: You know, there are really not a lot of southpaws out there who compare favorably to Manny. I think that Devon has speed and the way that he moves.

That compares a little bit with Manny Pacquiao. But Devon is really slick and he's hard to hit and he's very fast in the ring.

So I guess that you could say that my past couple of fights have gotten me ready and prepared me for this moment physically and mentally.

I've gone into camp and I've already had two southpaws in my last couple of fights, and so it's not like it's going to be anything new to me.

I'm going into camp already seasoned and ready to fight southpaws, so I'm going to go right back to where I left off.

So I'm just getting better at dominating those southpaws. That's what I do. I've had two southpaws in my last two fights, so this is perfect timing for me. Perfect.

Photos by Chris Farina, Top Rank

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com