Bradley endorses Pacquiao’s senatorial bid

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao had been trying to disassociate politics with his fight with Timothy Bradley.

But it turned out that the man who will try to defeat him in the ring this Saturday is one of his biggest supporters outside of it.

Bradley on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) publicly voiced out his support for Pacquiao’s bid to become a Philippine senator in the coming May elections.

“He (Pacquiao) is truly, truly, to me, the only one out there that's gonna do right for the Filipino people,” Bradley told the media in the final press conference held at the David Copperfield Theatre inside the MGM Grand here.

Interestingly, Pacquiao’s fight with Bradley has seen its share of controversy over claims by the Commission on Elections that it gives Pacquiao an unfair advantage in his campaign.

The Comelec later declared it won’t stop the fight from being aired. Nevertheless, Pacquiao and his team have been eluding questions about politics during the boxer’s sessions with reporters here the past few days.

But Bradley, for his part, won’t cooperate. With the way he sounded at the dais, the 32-year-old fighter could even pass as Pacquiao’s campaign manager.

“He's for the people. I think he's the right man for the job,” Bradley added.

Top Rank Inc. boss Bob Arum then informed the crowd that candidates in the Philippines are only allowed a total of 120 minutes of television airtime for their campaign commercials.

“But Bradley already used my time,” said Arum, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Bradley is praying hard he gets to soundly defeat Pacquiao this time, something he failed to do in their first two encounters. After they meet again for the third time on Saturday, Pacquiao will divert his attention to politics.

By then, he has Bradley in his corner.

“I hope you truly win!” he told Pacquiao at the dais.