By Jake Donovan

Timothy Bradley Jr. was six rounds into his April ’14 rematch with Manny Pacquiao and thought for sure he was well on his way to a second victory in as many tries versus the modern-day great. Their first fight in June ’12 ended in a highly questionable decision in Bradley’s favor, but the first half of their sequel had the reigning welterweight titlist believing he was well on his way to once and for all silencing his critics.

Unfortunately, the rest of the night didn’t quite play out as he envisioned. Already battling through a leg injury he suffered in round two, Bradley fell behind and was never able to catch up down the stretch, providing Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38KOs) with the victory many felt he already deserved two years prior. Given that, there was little demand for a rubber match, although it’s what we will get when they meet again on April 9 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The same backdrops are in place – the venue has hosted all three fights (assuming April 9 goes off without a hitch) and will have aired live on HBO Pay-Per-View.

This will mark the only fight of the three without a major title at stake, but the most significant difference in Bradley’s eyes is the mentality he carries thanks to the new supporting cast around him. His wife, Monica doubles as his manager and is in full control of the business side of his career. As far as what he will bring to the ring that we haven’t seen in 24 previous rounds, the recent addition of Teddy Atlas has so far produced favorable returns.

“There is never a light moment in this training camp,” Bradley (33-1-1, 12KOs) admits of his second straight camp with the famed trainer. “Teddy is always on me. He's a guy that cares about his fighters.”

The two joined forces last September, prior to the start of what he described as eight weeks of boot camp with Atlas for his HBO-televised clash with Brandon Rios last November. There was a chance that Bradley was going to win that fight – which he did by 9th round knockout - regardless of who was in his corner, but the former two-division champ had always managed to make just enough mistakes to make any given fight interesting.

It happened in his 12-round war with Ruslan Provodnikov in March ’13, his first fight after his aforementioned disputed win over Pacquiao nine months prior.

Bradley and the Top Rank brass didn’t exactly see eye to eye in plotting his next move, but eventually landed on the all-action brawler. The always-sculpted Californian was encouraged by his handlers to engage in a fan-friendly affair to help boost his marketability. Whether by intent or out of necessity, it’s exactly what came of the non-stop thriller, with Bradley rocked early, dropped late and unknowingly fighting through a concussion in obtaining a 12-round win in 2013’s Fight of the Year.

It became part of arguably the best year of his career, going on to claim a close-but-clear decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in their Oct. ’13 title fight, before his eventual loss to Manny Pacquiao the following April.

A draw with Diego Chaves and the bizarre ending to his decision win over Jessie Vargas featured both the best and worst of Bradley in both fights. In particular, the closing seconds of his fight with Vargas were mired in controversy, with Bradley – well ahead through 11 rounds – suffering a brief mental lapse and getting rocked just prior to the final 10 seconds of their clash last June.

Referee Pat Russell mistook the 10-second warning for the final bell, thus calling an end to the fight. Vargas believed he had won the fight by knockout, while Bradley was briefly left to wonder what the heck just happened. Clarification was finally offered, but the late scare was enough to realize a change was necessary if he was going to extend his current stay among the sport’s elite boxers.

From there came the decision to bring in Atlas, a famed trainer who has spent the better part of the last two decades serving as an expert analyst for ESPN2 during its long-running Friday Night Fights series and now for the semi-regular Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on ESPN series. The pairing was thought to be an odd couple at first glance, but Bradley immediately took to his ways, with such results evident in and out of the ring.

“Tim has shown some incredible rebirth in the November fight with Brandon Rios in his union with Teddy Atlas,” notes Todd duBoef, president of Top Rank, who promotes both Bradley and Pacquiao. “He looked reborn in the fight and did something that nobody has ever before done to Brandon Rios, becoming the first to stop him.”

The feat also marked the first stoppage win for Bradley since his 8th round knockout of Joel Casamayor in Nov. ’11 – his first fight under the Top Rank banner, which came on the undercard of Pacquiao’s 12-round win over Marquez in their third fight. It can be argued that Rios’ style was tailor made for Bradley to shine, but the most favorable result to come of their fight was the absence of any mental lapses.

Atlas’ infamous “We are fireman!” speech late in the fight made for a fantastic sound bite – also becoming an instant classic through social media and whose replays went viral on YouTube. Bradley’s astute attention to every spoken word from his trainer, however, spoke less to the satirical suggestion and more of the fighter’s keen awareness from bell to bell, something he’s sorely lacked in past fights.

Perhaps that extra verbal motivation is enough for a fighter to turn a corner. For Bradley, it’s part of a continuing process of believing in his chief second and implementing those words and lesson into his every day routine.

“It’s all about execution from here,” Bradley notes. “Teddy can instill everything in me that I need for this fight, but it don’t mean a thing if I don’t go out there and do it. We’re growing off of what we did in the Rios fight. Now when I watch a sparring session, I know when I make a mistake. Before I couldn’t see it. Now I can immediately pick up on it.”

For those who wonder what we can see from Bradley – and Pacquiao – that we haven’t already seen in 24 previous rounds, it could come down to fighting mentality.

Pacquiao has repeatedly insisted this will be the final fight of a career eventually destined for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The former eight-division champ – currently in the second term as a Congressman in the Philippine province of Sarangani – is presently vying for a Senate seat in his home country. The general election is in May and an election win will mean he cannot simultaneously continue as a full-time Senator and a boxer.

With that came the declaration that his rubber match with Bradley will serve as final call, regardless of the final outcome.

Bradley has every intention of fighting on. More so, he has every intention of showing the full effect of two consecutive full-dedication training camps – meaning no distractions, mental lapses or battling through prior injury. With that comes an eagerness to prove he can cleanly beat Pacquiao and forever solidify his reputation as one of the very best of his generation.

“I don’t think there’s anything out of the ordinary that we will see from Manny Pacquiao,” Bradley believes. “He fights the same way he always has. I’m a little different now than the fighter he’s faced before, so we’ll see how he handles that.

“This fight for me, it’s an opportunity for my kids to have something to talk about, that their father beat the great Manny Pacquiao (again).”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox