In an interview with FightHub on May 18th when asked about Manny Pacquiao’s shoulder injury, former two-division world champion Timothy Bradley called bull****.
He wasn’t referring to the injury by the use of the term, but for using the injury as an excuse for his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“Making excuses after and sh** for your loss and not giving Floyd his credit for beating you is bull****,” Bradley said.
Pacquiao, a former world champion in a record eight weight classes, claimed that he injured his shoulder a few weeks before the fight and decided to fight through the injury.
He re-injured the shoulder in the fourth round and underwent shoulder surgery a week later to repair a “significant tear” to the rotator cuff, according to Dr. Neal ElAttache, the doctor who performed the surgery.
Bradley fought Pacquiao twice, suffering leg injuries in both fights, and managed to win a controversial decision in their first clash in June 2012.
Bradley appears to have lost some respect for Pacquiao, adding that he took his loss to Pacquiao like a man, and the Filipino superstar should have done the same.
However, Bradley still views Pacquiao as one of the best of the generation.
“I was injured in the first fight with Manny Pacquiao, still gave him credit. Second fight, I was injured in the second round, didn’t make no excuses,” said Bradley. “He should have kept his mouth shut.”
A month removed from his interview with FightHub; Bradley is less than a day away from fighting WBA World super-lightweight champion Jessie Vargas for the ‘Interim’ WBO welterweight title.
Speaking with On The Ropes Boxing Radio via BoxingScene.com, Bradley’s position hasn’t altered.
“Injuries happen. They can happen in the course of a fight, they can happen in training camp, but you make that decision going into the biggest fight of your career to fight a fight. When you are not 110%, that’s your fault. You can’t blame anybody else. That’s your fault.
“If Manny was hurt going into the fight, that’s his fault. He could have postponed it, he could have fought on another date, but obviously he made that decision, and his team made that decision with him. So, you got to deal with the result, that’s another loss on your resume.
“It does affect you, I have been injured in both of my Manny Pacquiao fights. I felt I would have done a lot better if I was not injured, but that was not the case. I’m not making any excuses. Manny Pacquiao is a great, great fighter, one of the best in this generation no doubt. I felt I could have done better, but that was just not the case.”
