Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley matchup will have to do

For a second, trainer Freddie Roach was convinced Floyd Mayweather Jr. actually was serious when he "called out'' Manny Pacquiao earlier this year and offered to finally fight him. But once Pacquiao agreed to random blood testing, Mayweather changed the game and made it about contract terms so onerous that it ended the discussion.

So that's why Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) was in Manhattan Thursday promoting his next match against undefeated WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs) on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas instead of preparing to fight Mayweather. As alternatives go, it's a good fight, even though Bradley is moving up to 147 to challenge for Pacquiao's WBO welterweight title.

"I'm sure this is going to be a good fight because Tim Bradley loves to fight toe-to-toe,'' Pacquiao said. "He keeps coming inside. My problem [with Bradley] is the head butts. We need to watch that. But I'm pretty sure it's going to be a good fight.''

Pacquiao means it should be a good fight by comparison to the controversial majority decision he won in November in his third bout with Juan Manuel Marquez and the snoozer he won in May over Shane Mosley, who got hit early and went into a shell. Still, it's not the fight the boxing world and Pacquiao want most. As Pacquiao said of Mayweather, "I hope we fight before I retire.''

Roach said Mayweather made it obvious he doesn't really want the fight. "It went as far as Manny talking to him on the phone,'' Roach said. "Manny offered him a 45-55 split. Mayweather said, 'We'll pay you a flat fee and no pay-per-view and nothing on the back end.' ''

It's one thing to take short money, as Pacquiao offered to do, but another to give up all pay-per-view rights to the richest fight in history. With prospects of a Mayweather match dimming, is it possible Pacquiao might be disinterested against Bradley?

"I don't think it really bothers him,'' Roach said. "Manny doesn't take anyone lightly.

"Bradley's a real tough guy. Coming in headfirst like he likes to do, I just want Manny to meet that with combinations and not his head. We'll box him from the outside and meet that head with our fists.''

Although Pacquiao struggled against Marquez for the third time in as many meetings, Bradley saw that as a matter of styles and not slippage by the 33-year-old Pacquiao.

"I didn't see any decline in Manny at all,'' Bradley said. "But Manny hasn't seen anything like me. I believe I'm going to win this fight. I'm going to have to bring my 'A' game, but I honestly think he's going to bring the best out of me.''