Manny Pacquiao Will Be Smarter Than Timothy Bradley in Rematch, Says Freddie Roach

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach revealed that Manny Pacquiao's game plan in his upcoming rematch with Timothy Bradley will be similar to the strategy he employed in his previous fight against Brandon Rios.

In an interview with BoxingScene, Roach said that Pacquiao will fight smart against Bradley on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Roach played down talks about whether or not Pacquiao can still knock opponents out. He pointed out that the former pound-for-pound king could have finished Rios in their showdown in November last year. Pacquiao just fought a smart fight, Roach said.

"In his last fight, he fought a very smart fight," Roach said. "He might have been able to finish him. He hurt him a couple times, but we didn't jump in so quickly this time. So we did learn something from that [Marquez] fight. But we're going to fight our fight."

Roach also added that Pacquiao was also cautious in his first showdown with Bradley, opting to box his way to victory instead of going for a knockout. However, two of the judges favored Bradley, though Roach insisted that they will not make drastic changes to their game plan just because of that controversial loss.

"One bad decision doesn't change everything in life," Roach said. "It doesn't change our game plan. We're going to fight a similar fight to our last fight - very busy with combinations. We're not going to make any adjustments for who the judges are or anything like that because that's really out of our control."

Pacquiao echoed his longtime trainer's statement, saying that he will not force himself to score a knockout win.

The 35-year-old former eight-division champion said that he will be very aggressive in the April 12 rematch, as he is itching to prove he still has his killer instinct, unlike what Bradley is claiming.

"We're not focusing on the knockout," Pacquiao said. "Our focus this time is to put more aggressiveness and throw a lot more punches. If the knockout comes, it comes. I just want to prove I still have the hunger and killer instinct."

Pacquiao, who was known for his powerful punches and blinding combinations, has not scored a knockout win since his 12th-round victory over Miguel Cotto in November 2009.