Pacquiao-Bradley 24/7 Ep 2 Recap

Fight fans get a long look at the training camps of Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley in the second installment of HBO’s 24/7 documercial series, ahead of the Saturday rematch between the Filipino (partial?) buzzsaw, and the California-based boxer who has cemented himself into a top five pound for pounder, at least, in the last year.

We see footage of Pacman at Freddie Roach’s famed Wild Card Gym in LA, and note that Roach has installed a basement sub gym, where Manny can work out unbothered. The Congressman seems to like the new joint, which Roach terms “your house.” The Filipino flag is hung the right way, and that pleases the scrapper. “It’s more private during training, so it’s good for me,” Manny says.

Roach gives a thumbs up to Manny, and says Manny has more fire, because Bradley dissed his hunger. The boxer says he likes training, and still enjoys boxing. During down time, at night, Manny stays at the LA home he owns, instead of an apartment rental, packed with hangers-on. Advisor Michael Koncz says that Manny loves company, which helps him forget about missing family. The family won’t be at the fight, because Jinkee is due with their first child, a boy to be named Israel, at the end of April.

We see Manny’s dog, Li’l Pacman growling up a storm at various persons, and then switch to the Bradley camp.

The Cali boxer likes being at his own home gym, he says. He says he knows he has to basically KO Manny, because the judges will show extra love to Manny, who most perceived got screwed in the first tangle.

Bradley spends some time with the family, and wife Monica, we hear, is now his manager, after he chose to not renew a contract with Cameron Dunkin. The boxer says his wife can perform the same duties as Dunkin, without obtaining a fee for service. Dunkin, from what I know, greatly upped Bradley’s purses in the years he worked for the boxer, and I’d guess isn’t pleased at being kicked to the curb after proving so adept, and then, when the going gets good, hearing he wasn’t all that.

Monica did negotiate a two-year deal with Top Rank we hear, but this element did, frankly, leave me asking myself questions about loyalty. Did Tim Bradley underrate what manager Dunkin did for him in year’s past, and let dollar signs obscure that? It is, I suppose, purely for him to answer…

Monica Bradley says that the fighter takes the risk, and this move makes the most business sense for the family, long term.

Manny is then seen working out in a park, in the AM. He does all manner of exercises, under the guidance of Justin Fortune, who was with him from 2002-2007. Fortune tells Pacman he feels fresh, because he’s stopped drinking, because of Manny’s influence.

Fortune says that he and Roach made up after a financial beef. “The band’s back together,” he says, noting Manny was unbeaten with him in the mix. The Aussie says that Manny is doing a lot of old school training. Fortune says Bradley asked for the old Manny to come back, and that is what he shall receive.

Bradley, in Indio, works out in the AM, too. He does sprints, and he says politely ditching his dad overseeing workouts, as he has for the last five fights, is working well. He finishes by about 1 PM, and head trainer Joel Diaz then heads to the Boys and Girls Club, in Mecca, CA, where he works with kids for about three hours a day. Ten years ago, Diaz met young amateur Bradley and they clicked and worked together since. Bradley often works with the kids at the club, as well. The fighter recognizes that kids need opportunities and will get them in the ring.

Roach, meanwhile, also runs his main gym. Marvin Samodio helps out, while Liam Vaughn, aka Freddie Roach Jr, from England, also helps out. Roach and Liam head to a salon in Beverly Hills, and Freddie gets plucked and groomed. We see Mickey Rourke, a longtime Roach pal. He says Roach is well endowed, for the record, which he knows from the shower. For the record…

Roach thinks Manny will catch Timothy during a trade, and will show no mercy. “People want knockouts,” Freddie says he’s told Manny. He thinks “Manny will win this fight by knockout and think he’ll look good doing it,” in fact.

Bradley, at his home, heads off to drive his kid to school, in Palm Springs. He’s in the gym by 10 AM, and Bradley says he knows what to expect this time. Diaz can emulate Manny’s style, he says, and that helps Tim. The ex pro is still in great shape, and can approximate the Filipino. No, he’s not as fast, but he tries to throw similar combos and move the same way.

Bradley says he sometimes pinches himself, noting how far he’s come, from a hood where drugs and such were present. Boxing steered him right, he says, and that’s something negative nellies don’t get. That’s because, usually, they don’t have even a minor conception about the milieus that exist, where poverty, violence and hopelessness carry the day, the night, the whole of existence. “I earned it, I went out and took it,” Bradley says.

To close, we hear that the boxers are clear of the finish line. Manny knows he will be adding to legacy, and wants to elongate these prime years. Bradley wants to ascend higher, and leapfrog even Manny, and then, I guess, Floyd Mayweather. “I’m going to shock the world, again, but this time, I’m going to get the credit for it,” Bradley says.

Tune in for ep 3, tonight, at 8:30 PM ET, on HBO proper.

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