Manny Pacquiao - Photo Credit : Chris Farina - Top Rank

Timothy Bradley always liked to fight. In fact, he admitted on last week’s opening episode of “24/7: Road to Pacquiao-Bradley,” he was so ready to throw down as a child that he once even fired a couple of punches at a kid who accidentally and lightly bumped the back of Bradley’s legs - in his wheelchair.

He’s a calmer presence now, his aggression diverted into boxing from the age of eight, by a father who decided he “wasn’t going to have a thug living under my roof.” But if Bradley is a changed character from the tiny terror of Palm Springs’ North End, Manny Pacquiao, his opponent on June 9, is, it would seem, a much different man from … well, from the man who graced the MGM Grand ring last November 12.

Pacquiao struggled against Juan Manuel Marquez that night, eking out a majority decision in a fight that many had expected him to win more convincingly; but if the closeness of the verdict owed more to the fact that he was fighting a man who had fought him to a draw and a razor-thin points win in their previous two encounters, who has long been recognized as Pacquiao’s fistic nemesis, and who in hindsight deserved a lot more respect going into that third contest than he received, Pacquiao and his wife Jinkee feel that out-of-the-ring factors were also involved.

Pacquiao’s gym workouts in General Santos City are now, at least sometimes, immediately followed by a bible study group, led by the fighter/Congressman/singer/actor/businessman himself, a manifestation of a decision the Filipino made following that Marquez fight to turn around his life. There had been rumors of philandering; certainly, he admits on 24/7, there was gambling and drinking – vices, he says, he has now consigned to the trash can as he embraces his religion and his family life.

Whether such changes outside the ropes translate to improvement inside the ring will not be known before June 9. One might argue that a man who has won world titles in a record eight weight classes doesn’t need much improvement; conversely, the thought occurs that if he was able to wreak such havoc while wassailing until all hours, who knows what he might be capable of now?

Bradley, however, is unconcerned. He may no longer be prone to visiting violence on the wheelchair-bound, but he confesses to carrying around a chip on his shoulder, a chip that thrives and grows the more his chances are dismissed. That chip will likely be log-sized on June 9, because Bradley will be a heavy underdog, but he won’t care: After all, this is a man whose father threw a rock at his stomach during childhood training because they couldn’t afford a medicine ball.

If he can survive that, even look back on it and laugh, then theoretically he should have no fear of a pair of gloved fists. Even if they’re Manny Pacquiao’s fists. No matter which Manny Pacquiao shows up on June 9.

Timothy Bradley - Photo Credit: Will Hart

Boxing fans know well the kind of fighter Timothy Bradley is. They know the undefeated former 140-lbs champ has taken out a solid list of opponents, and that he is a legitimate and potentially dangerous foe for Manny Pacquiao on June 9. To the more casual observer of the sport, however, Bradley’s name is not well-known, if it is known at all; and so, for those who are looking to find out more about the Pacman’s latest opponent, here are five things you should know:

His nickname is 'Desert Storm'

Although he was not in the military, the moniker is part homage to the military ethic, as well as an acknowledgment of his origins. "I just wanted a name that would stick. I'm from the desert down here in Palm Springs [California] … I wasn't in the military, but mentally and the way I train, I train like I was in the military -- a lot of discipline."

He started boxing at age 10

"I was always fighting in the street, you know, fighting in school," he has said. A friend suggested he take up boxing, and Bradley pestered his dad to drive him to the local boxing gym. His father resisted, believing that his son wouldn't show the requisite degree of dedication, until he finally relented; subsequently, Bradley Sr. took over junior’s training throughout his amateur career.

He has been a professional for almost eight years

After approximately 150 amateur contests, including fights against the likes of Andre Ward and Andre Berto, he turned professional at age 20 with a second round knockout of Francisco Martinez.

He won his first world title the hard way – on foreign soil

On May 10, 2008, he went to Nottingham, England to take on local favorite Junior Witter for the WBC 140-lbs title. He was a 6-1 underdog, but knocked the champ down en route to winning a split decision. The following year, he recovered from two knockdowns of his own (the only times he has been on the canvas as a professional) to take the WBO belt from Kendall Holt.

He is a vegan. Sometimes

For three months leading up to a fight, Bradley adopts a vegan diet, an approach he first tried before the Witter bout. He told the Wall Street Journal in February that during that time, "My thoughts are clearer, crisp. I am sharp. Everything is working perfectly—I feel clean. It's a weird feeling, man. It's just a weird feeling."

When Jim Lampley was searching for inspiration for his new show, “The Fight Game with Jim Lampley”, which debuts on HBO at midnight ET on Saturday, he found it in what might at first blush be considered an unusual place.

“The guy who will sit in the studio and produce the show as I tape it is Bill Wolff, whose other gig is to produce Rachel Maddow’s nightly show on MSNBC,” Lampley revealed during a recent conversation. “And I chose him specifically because I admire the culture of that show, I admire the way they deliver information, I admire her way of building up evidence after evidence to support a point without having to say, ‘This is what you should believe,’ and that’s the kind of thing that I’ll be trying to do with ‘The Fight Game’.”

Read More at HBO.com.

One day before fight night, the final act of theater. If the prefight weigh-in serves an important function for the boxers, a final opportunity to ensure that each man has trained to perfection, that both have met their contractual obligations and that neither will carry an unfair weight advantage, it also offers each man a final opening to assert psychological dominance, by staring into his opponent’s eyes and seeking to divine his level of anxiety.

For the promoters, meanwhile, it is the chance to make one last sell, to increase interest and hype up the fans. The fans obligingly play their part, lining up en masse hours in advance to catch a glimpse of the combatants up close, 6,000 or so filling seats in one half of the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

One by one, young and old, active and retired, professional prizefighters in attendance are brought up on stage and introduced to the crowd: Abner Mares, Danny Jacobs, Danny Garcia, Seth Mitchell, Adrien Broner, Bernard Hopkins, Erik Morales, and even Leon Spinks. Then Saturday evening’s participants step on the scale.

Surprisingly, Shane Mosley is one half-pound over the 154 lb limit for his clash with Saul Canelo Alvarez, who weighs in at 154 on the button. Mosley is surprised; on another scale, he said, he tested himself and was right on 154. No matter, he shrugs, he’d lose it easily, and sure enough, within a half hour he does.

The crowd roars as Miguel Cotto arrives, and boos in anticipation and upon the appearance of Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather, the challenger, steps on the scale first; at 151, he is the heaviest he has ever been, one pound more than he weighed when he fought Oscar De La Hoya five years ago. Cotto hits the 154 limit on the nose.

The two men pose face to face. They stand inches apart, staring into each other’s eyes. They stare. And stare. And stare. Neither moves, neither yields an inch, Mayweather chewing gum, Cotto with ice running through his veins, unmoving. As their handlers begin to move pull them apart, the roars of the crowd echoing through the arena, the two men start jawing at each other, Cotto in particular straining at the leash and shouting across at his foe as camp members ease their men in different directions.

“I told him he’s facing the best,” says Mayweather afterward.

“I said he’s undefeated, but he hasn’t fought Miguel Cotto,” counters Cotto.

Game on.

Watch the slideshow on HBO.com.