Pacquiao has rematch clause included for Bradley fight

By Boxing News - 02/27/2012 - Comments

Image: Pacquiao has rematch clause included for Bradley fightBy Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum made sure that a rematch clause was included with his fighter Pacquiao’s contract for his June 9th fight against light welterweight Timothy Bradley just in case the judges don’t give the Filipino star the decision like they did in his last fight against Mexican warrior Juan Manuel Marquez last November.

Arum told the Manilla Bulletin “Bradley is a very good fighter and the only thing Manny as over him is he is a better puncher. This is a very difficult fight for Manny.”

The 28-year-old Bradley is a 3-1 underdog, which isn’t bad as I thought he would be given all the Pacquiao hype that’s build up over the past few years. I see this as a fight that Bradley not only can win but will win, as long as the judges don’t give it to Pacquiao anyway. You have to worry about that kind of thing after watching Pacquiao’s last three fights against Marquez in which Pacquiao appeared to lose all three of them and yet was given two wins and a draw. It might take an especially dominating performance for Bradley to eek out a close decision. Pacquiao is the star in this fight and the World Boxing Organization champion, so it’s probably going to take a performance where Bradley wins the fight by at least six rounds for him to get a close decision win. Pacquiao is the big money guy in boxing and you don’t beat the money man unless you whip him bad. Bradley has the tools, and is the younger guy. Pacquiao is starting to show serious signs of deterioration in his last few fights and prime to be picked off by the young lion Bradley.

Pacquiao is going to make a guarantee $25 million, and even more when the pay per view and gate cash is tabulated. For his part, Bradley will haul in $5 million plus a percentage of the PPV money. It’s all good for both guys but one of them is going to get whipped in this fight and I see it as Pacquiao. He’s the old man in this fight and in boxing it’s not a good thing to get old. Pacquiao is listed as being 33, but he’s starting to look a little long in the tooth to me. My guess is he appears to be at least 37 in physical age. That’s when the old reflexes start to go on you and you get brought down by the younger lions. It was smart of Arum to sign Bradley, because at least when and if Pacquiao gets taken down, Arum will still have a winner in his Top Rank stable.



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