Timothy Bradley uses calf injury as excuse for loss to Manny Pacquiao

Timothy Bradley said after his unanimous decision loss to Manny Pacquiao Saturday night in Las Vegas that he wasn’t going to make an excuse, but he still made an excuse to explain his loss.

Bradley said after his defeat that he suffered a calf injury after the first round that forced him to change his style.

“It was a very tough fight. Manny came out, did his thing. I did my best in there. I got injured after the first round,” said Bradley. “I injured my calf, had to adjust my style. Had to walk to him, that’s why I got aggressive. I was just trying to end it with one shot.

“I knew if the fight was close I wasn’t getting the decision so I was like I’m better off just trying to knock this guy out.”

This actually does make sense. Watching the fight, it was noticeable that Bradley was taking some huge swings at Pac-Man in the early rounds. Many of us thought that was because he was going for a knockout so there wouldn’t be any complications from the referees. That may have been part of his motivation for the big punches, but he says there was another bigger reason to explain it.

At least he didn’t say he got robbed and gave Pacquiao the credit the Filipino deserved for the undisputed win.