TOP Rank chief Bob Arum has vowed that a 'different' Timothy Bradley will climb the ring for his fight against Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao on April 9 in Las Vegas.
Arum told Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole he is aware of the underwhelming reaction to his announcement that Pacquiao will face Bradley for the third time in what could be the Filipino superstar's last fight.
Arum, however, said Top Rank will make sure that fans will still find a reason to watch Pacquiao-Bradley III.
"Will we do the same numbers for the first two Bradley fights? Probably not. We're going to try to come as close as we can, and hopefully exceed it, but I understand what we're up against. I've run my numbers and I have done my math. I'm not out here with my head up my (expletive)," Arum said.
[See How many boxing fans are excited to see Pacquiao-Bradley III? Not many]
Pacquiao and Bradley split their previous bouts with the Filipino pulling off a unanimous decision victory in 2014. Neither fight was exciting.
That the Bradley bout comes on the heels of the disappointing fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. also poses another problem marketing-wise, Arum admitted.
"Of course, I understand the reaction to the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is going to impact us," Arum said.
Arum, however, said the Bradley that showed up in his most recent win over Brandon Rios can give Pacquiao an interesting fight that fans would love to watch.
"We're going to promote this as the fight with a different Timothy Bradley. Bradley was a different fighter in the fight with Rios. He had a different style, a different game plan and he performed differently," said Arum, who attributed Bradley's change in style to his new trainer Teddy Atlas.
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