Two-weight world champion Tim Bradley has revealed the one fighter that punched harder than Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao.
Bradley shared the ring with Pacquiao on three occasions throughout the course of his professional career, defeating the eight-division world champion in the first of their several encounters in June of 2012, capturing the WBO welterweight title in the process.
It was a controversial result though, and Pacquiao got his revenge in their rematch just over one year later to recapture the WBO world title at 147lbs, racking up a unanimous decision victory over ‘Desert Storm’ at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Their rivalry was settled in April 2016 as ‘PacMan’ defeated Bradley for the second time which would lead to the American calling time on his professional career, having held world titles at light-welterweight and welterweight.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine, Bradley actually overlooked Pacquiao when discussing the hardest hitting opponent he ever faced, who he reveals to be former light-welterweight world champion Ruslan Provodnikov.
“When Provodnikov hits you, you’re in la-la land. You’re dancing on an island. You’re trying to get your legs back and get your defenses, because you don’t want to get hit by another shot from this guy. Your legs go to jelly. (laughs) You have no control over your body; you’re trying to will yourself out of that hell you’re in.”
Provodnikov made the move up to challenge Bradley for his WBO welterweight title back in March 2013, although he would ultimately fall short in his attempt at becoming a two-weight world champion, suffering a unanimous decision defeat at the Home Depot Center in California in a clash that many fans believed to be the Fight of the Year.
