Timothy Bradley says he will rely on a 'way different' strategy built on a highly detailed game plan when he defends his WBO welterweight title against Filipino Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas next month.
The two boxers will be meeting for a third time, Bradley having controversially beaten Pacquiao when they first met in 2012 but the Filipino gained revenge in their 2014 re-match by scoring a unanimous decision win.
Two-division world champion Bradley has since teamed up with renowned trainer and boxing analyst Teddy Atlas, a move that he believes has markedly improved his ring skills and fight preparation.
"Our approach this time (against Pacquiao) is going to be way different," Bradley said during a conference call on Wednesday. "We have a big game plan going into this fight and I am looking closely at Pacquiao and his weaknesses.
"I can take a lot from the first two fights. I didn't really have a game plan for the first fight, pretty much fighting on my peer skills and my experience, and I did pretty well in that one.
"The second fight, Pacquiao definitely won that hands down but I suffered an injury in the second round. The fact that now I will have a big game plan ... I think that I have a much better chance."
Asked what he had learned under the tutelage of Atlas, Bradley replied: "I've learned a lot of things ... but the hardest thing for me is to trust the game plan at all times in the ring, in training.
"What I mean by that is that no matter what's going on, no matter how bad a day you're having, you always have to be focused, you always have to be committed.
"That is enforced every single day (with Atlas). I show up to the gym and it's total concentration, total focus all the way through," said Bradley (33-1-1), who knocked out fellow American Brandon Rios in the ninth round of his last bout.
Southpaw Pacquiao (57-6-2) has won world titles in eight different weight classes during a stellar 20-year career but Bradley is confident that he and Atlas have established a winning strategy for the April 9 showdown in Las Vegas.
"We have a game plan, I just have to go out there and execute it, just like I did against Rios," said Bradley. "I trust everything that Teddy is telling me and teaching me. I've just got to do my job.
