Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner trade verbal jabs during LA media event

LOS ANGELES — When Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner met face-to-face for the second time in as many days Tuesday at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, it was exactly what you would expect# Broner spoke in sound bytes for the TMZ crowd, and Pacquiao spoke mostly in platitudes#

Q&A host Jim Gray said hopefully we’ll see two combatants exchange more punches on Jan# 19 on Showtime pay-per-view at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas than they did in words on Tuesday# That seems to be the expectation# Though Broner (33-3-1, 24 knockouts) has fallen short in nearly all his biggest fights, experts consider him a very live dog against what will be a 40-year-old Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) when the two meet#

Broner, a four-division champion, has bounced between 140 and 147 pounds for the last five years and has never been knocked out# He’s been in with two pound-for-pound quality guys in Mikey Garcia and Shawn Porter, losing clear decisions both times# In both defeats, he was criticized for throwing too few punches to win rounds# But Pacquiao represents the biggest name he’s ever been in the ring with, and he knows this is an opportunity he can’t squander#

“They say you’re as good as your last performance and he got eight losses and y’all still praise him to be one of the best ever,” Broner said# “He’s been knocked out three times# I got three good losses# I fought my ass off# After this win, we’re onto bigger and best things#”

“This is really like a dream come true for me,” Broner added# “Right now I got a chance to make money I could only dream of# I gotta take mines#”

This will be Pacquiao’s first fight since signing a deal with Premier Boxing Champions# After years of being in matchups without much appeal against Jeff Horn, Jessie Vargas, and an unnecessary third fight against Timothy Bradley, the welterweight cupboard is open to Pacquiao considering the PBC controls most of the major pieces# Earlier this year, Floyd Mayweather Jr# even dangled the possibility of a rematch, but Pacquiao knows he can’t look past Broner—who is 11 years younger with a chip on his shoulder#

“He’s young and he’s fast – and he’s fast with his mouth,” Pacquiao said with a laugh# “There will be more action in the ring—we know what the people want# It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a fight you will never forget#”