Manny Pacquiao's shoulder as good as new, '100%' ready for Timothy Bradley

Manny Pacquiao said he is “ready to fight” Timothy Bradley after the Filipino got cleared by his doctor to push through with the bout, brushing off any concerns of a shoulder injury suffered against Floyd Mayweather during their famous fight last year.

According to Roy Luarca of the Inquirer Sports, Pacquiao’s orthopedic surgeon Neal ElAttrache examined the former eight-division titlist during the Filipino’s Pacquiao-Bradley III promotional tour in Los Angeles. ElAttrache, who performed the arthroscopic surgery on Pacquiao’s torn rotator cuff in May, only took 15 to 20 minutes to evaluate the Filipino boxing icon at Beverly Hills Hotel.

Pacquiao has always been adamant he would retire from boxing after he fights Bradley for the third time and it was no different when the boxer-turned-politician addressed the crowd at a press conference in New York about his intentions to focus on his political career and serve his Filipino countrymen.

“This is my last fight,” Pacquiao said, reports the the Wall Street Journal. “I started boxing to help [my family] and now I will end my boxing career because I want to help my countrymen.”

However, George Willis of the New York Post thinks Pacquiao’s vow to retire from boxing is not too convincing, considering the circumstances of possibly losing in the Philippines’ national elections, or with Floyd Mayweather coming out of retirement to give him a rematch. Even Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum and Hall of Famer trainer Freddie Roach are not buying Pacquiao’s plan to retire from the sport.

“No, unfortunately,” Arum said, when asked if Pacquiao would retire after April's showdown, reports Spin. “That’s why I didn’t want to sell this fight based on it being his last fight because I’m not sure it will. Maybe it is, maybe it won’t.”

Meanwhile, Bradley is confident he will appear victorious once he gets in the ring with Pacquiao. Bradley, who revived his boxing career after bringing Teddy Atlas in his corner, told the LA Times that he has made some changes in his boxing style and will be a different fighter compared to their last two fights.