Bradley the forgotten man in upcoming Pacquiao fight

Everyone is still talking about whether or not Floyd Mayweather will ever face Manny Pacquiao. People even ask Timothy Bradley what he thinks the chances of the mega fight happening are.

Never mind that Bradley, undefeated at 28-0, will be entering the ring on June 9 to take Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title from him.

“Everybody’s overlooking me,” Bradley said in a telephone interview. “Him, his people, the HBO producers, the fans. … It’s a good challenge, but it’s going to be a good challenge for him, too. I am out to prove everybody wrong, and I am definitely using that as fuel going into this fight.”

The Palm Springs fighter saw that Pacquiao had trouble with Juan Manuel Marquez in his last fight (as he has in all three of his bouts with Marquez) but he is not going to take too much from that tape.

“I watched it and I saw some things, but I am a lot better than Marquez,” Bradley said. “I have more speed and more power. And Pacquiao knows what I am going to. They’re preparing for me to come forward at him, and I will have a couple of tricks up my sleeve, but I will be coming at him too.”

And why wouldn’t he? For all the talk of Pacquiao’s speed and quick punching power, Bradley — a 3.5 to 1 underdog — thinks he is faster than his opponent.

“Speed kills, and they’re going to be really surprised when I have quicker hands and quicker feet than he does,” Bradley said. “He’s a Ferrari and I am a Lamborghini. We’re both exciting and fast and competitive. There is no way this fight goes 12 rounds.”

Once again, Bradley will be on a plant-based vegan diet that he goes on when he is training. It’s tough because Bradley likes meat and fish, but he says it’s worth it.

“It feels great,” said Bradley, who also takes USANA nutritional supplements to boost his energy level. “You can cut weight very quickly and you feel clean and very sharp.”

At 28, Bradley is five years younger than Pacquiao. Besides the wear and tear on his body, Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach cited a laundry list of distractions (marital and tax problems, gambling, fatigue from too much women and basketball) to reporters to explain why he hasn’t been especially sharp his last three fights.

“I don’t know if he is on the way down, but I am on the way up,” Bradley said. “I respect him, he has been a great champion, but this is my chance to become a superstar. And you only get one chance.”