Manny Pacquiao arrives in Los Angeles (Photo : Jhay Oh Otamias)
Former pound-for-pound king and boxing's only eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao may have not scored a knockout win since his 2009 triumph over Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto, but at least two trainers are predicting a victory by the "Pacman" with one predicting a bold victory by knockout.
Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KO's) will take on American Timothy "The Desert Storm" Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KO's) on April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout is scheduled at welterweight for 12-rounds and is a non-title affair.
Bradley vacated his WBO title a few months ago for the opportunity to fight Pacquiao a third time.
Trainer of long-time Pacquiao rival Juan Manuel Marquez, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain also thinks Pacquiao will come out victorious against Bradley.
In an interview with ESPN Deportes, Beristain says Bradley hasn't changed much and will lose to Pacquiao.
"No, I don't think Bradley will have a greater opportunity [to win], because Bradley is the same [fighter] - with that stinking, fast and difficult style," said Beristain.
Beristain believes Pacquiao will end his career on a winning note, citing his skills as a businessman.
"In addition to being a good fighter, Pacquiao is a responsible fighter, professional. He is not going to walk away [from boxing] with a loss, so he chose Bradley," said Beristain.
"And Bradley is a good fighter but we all know who will win unless Bradley becomes a different fighter than what he has shown throughout his career."
Pacquiao and Marquez have faced each other four times in their careers, with Marquez scoring the most decisive victory in the series by knocking Pacquiao out cold in 2012.
Another trainer also believes Pacquiao will come out victorious, and it's someone Pacquiao is very familiar with.
"I actually think that for one, I think Pacquiao's going to come out and do what he hasn't done with Bradley before and win by knockout," said former trainer of the year Robert Garcia, in an interview with hoopjab.com.
"I think Pacquiao's going to train hard and wants to look good and impress like he was doing four or five years ago. I think he is going to come out and win by knockout."
Garcia has sat on the opposite side of Pacquiao's corner twice in his career, once when Pacquiao faced Antonio Margarito and the other when he fought Brandon Rios. Just recently, Garcia cornered Rios for his fight against Bradley back in November.
Pacquiao was heavily criticised for his choice of Bradley over other popular alternatives such as junior welterweight champion Terence "Bud" Crawford and Britain's Amir "King" Khan. But if Pacquiao can knock out Bradley, turns out, he made the right choice after all.
