No rush hour for Bradley

MANILA, Philippines - American boxer Timothy Bradley has been in this position before – on the big stage for a big fight.

He has fought Manny Pacquiao twice since 2012, and the third fight against the former pound-for-pound champion is no reason for him to feel too eager or too excited.

Bradley said he’s taking his time before he begins training as he tries to defend his WBO welterweight title against Pacquiao in April at the MGM Grand.

Last week, he was in Los Angeles and New York for a whirlwind press tour that ended in below-zero weather and an impending snow storm in the East Coast.

He told Filipino scribes there’s no reason to rush.

Training camp in Indio, California, according to Bradley, begins on Feb. 15, a day after Valentine’s Day, which he’d spend with his wife, Monica, and kids.

“That’s eight weeks so I have a couple more weeks – no more, no less. People ask me if I’ve been training. No. There’s no panic. There’s no rush,” he said.

Pacquiao is doing the same, saying camp opens on the first or second week of February in General Santos City. Freddie Roach is flying in from Los Angeles on the 13th or 14th.

“Eight weeks are enough for me to get ready for a fight and not twelve weeks. For (Brandon) Rios I trained seven weeks and that’s it,” he said.

“April 9 is the only day in my calendar,” he added.

During the press conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel last Tuesday, he reminded the press that he’d been in this position before.

“Have I been training? Gosh! It’s not my first day on the rodeo,” he said.