Pacquiao set to face a young, hungry lion

CEBU, Philippines - Undefeated WBO junior welterweight champion Tim Bradley said pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao is going to face a 'young, hungry lion' when they clash inside the ring on June 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Knowing the huge impact of this fight not only for himself and family but also for the boxing world itself, Bradley said he's never been this focused in his career. He trained so hard that he likened himself to a 'hungry lion' that is mostly likely looking for a prey come the big day.

"Well, the magnitude of this fight is huge. It's not only huge for myself, but it's huge for my community. It's huge for all of my boxing fans out there. It's huge for my family. It's huge for everyone who loves Tim Bradley. It's huge for boxing, period," Bradley told Lem Satterfield of RingTV.com.

"Me fighting Manny Pacquiao, he's facing a young, hungry lion. Kind of like when Floyd Mayweather did it when he fought Victor Ortiz this past September. I think that it's good for boxing. I think that my focus is there. I think that my focus, even more, now than ever. It's kind of hard to stick to what I normally do, he added.

Bradley though expressed much respect for Pacquiao, who has already collected eight world titles in different weight divisions.

"I respect Pacquiao. I respect Pacquiao just like I respect every fighter. I respected [Joel] Casamayor like I respect Pacquiao. I give the same respect to every fighter that I get into the ring with," said Bradley. "Manny Pacquiao has a bigger reputation. But I respect him like I do Casamayor, because Pacquiao has two hands and two feet just like I do."

"So, there's no more respect than Casamayor or any other fighter that I've fought before in my career. I just respect every fighter that I get into the ring with. Because I know that they're out to hurt me. So I have to prepare myself physically, mentally and spiritually for each and every one of my fights," added Bradley.

Bradley, on the other hand, is amenable to the Olympic-style random drug testing, which is one of main reasons why the planned Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather superbout initially bogged down. Mayweather wants such kind of test be done before and after the fight, but Team Pacquiao thumbed it down at first.

But as far as he is concerned, Bradley said he is very much open to being randomly tested.

"Absolutely. Absolutely. I would embrace it. Hey, bring on the needles. You can come and check me every single day if you needed to. I would embrace a drug test any day. Any day of the week, you can come see me.

Any day of the week that you need to. Any day, week or month of the year, you can come and drug test me. It's all natural over here with Tim Bradley. Natural. God-given talent," said Bradley in the same internet report.