Redemption or retirement?

Manny Pacquiao has only a few days left before the world sees if his 22-month-long effort of trying to cleanse one of the worst years of his career is worth the wait.

Pacquiao (55-5-2, with 38 knockouts) dropped a controversial split decision loss to Timothy Bradley Jr. in 2012, the first of two losses that the seven-division world champion suffered that year after being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez.

“I’m not angry after the decision [Bradley fight]. The officials did their best, and no one is perfect in this world, and sometimes they make mistakes. It’s part of boxing. I wasn’t really bothered after the fight,” said Pacquiao in an interview by the Miami Herald.

Pacquiao said that he would rather use Bradley’s (31, 12 KOs) consistent thrash talking as a motivation to prove that he still has the same finishing power that helped him knock out Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and Miguel Cotto.

“The more he [Bradley] says it, the more it inspires me to show the hunger and the killer instinct he is talking about. I am not angry or disappointed about what he says to me, but I’m happy that he has told me that because it inspires me to train hard and to focus in the gym on my game plan and focus on the fight. It is a benefit for me,” said Pacquiao.

The fighting Congressman from Sarangani province said he is hoping to keep his aggressive stance against his still undefeated opponent.

“I do not think Bradley will fight toe-to-toe with me either, so I will have to hunt him down. I am prepared for that. I am not going for a knockout, but if the opportunity presents itself I am going for it this time,” Pacquiao said.

The Filipino boxing icon added that they saw Bradley use two different strategies in his last two fights against Ruslan Provodnikov and Marquez.

“We are focusing on being more aggressive and throwing a lot of punches, and if the knockout comes, it comes. I just want to prove that I can have the hunger that it takes to get the job done.”

Pacquiao is coming off a masterful 12-round unanimous decision win over Brandon Rios in November last year to end a two-fight slide.

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