By Chris Williams: Bob Arum from Top Rank went and signed WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley to his promotional stable recently with the end goal of putting him in with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. Instead of waiting to let the fight marinate while Bradley slowly started to win over some fans, Arum is doing a rush job of putting Bradley in pretty much immediately.

It could be a mistake by Arum, because Bradley doesn’t have a lot of fans, and the fight probably won’t do as well as some of Pacquiao’s other PPV fights. But the worse part is Bradley may be good enough to beat Pacquiao. He’s certainly good enough to out-box him and do enough to get the win, but I’m just not convinced that the judges will give Bradley the win unless he knocks Pacquiao down four to five times. I don’t think that’s going to happen, so I hope Bradley is planning on trying to KO Pacquiao because he may need one.

Bradley says he’s ready to beat Pacquiao and bring some new blood as the WBO champion. He seems himself as being able to do a job on Pacquiao. Having seen the best of Bradley in fights against Devon Alexander, Joel Casamayor, and Lamont Peterson, I think Bradley is a live underdog. I think he can do it, especially with Pacquiao’s legs breaking down on him with cramps. His trainer wants to put Pacquiao through a really hard camp to try and get him ready for Bradley. This could work out well for Bradley because might end up too worn down from all the exercises that Ariza is putting him through.

Pacquiao has gotten away with having bad boxing skills and technique through much of his career due to his power and hand speed. However, Pacquiao’s foot speed has gone down and he’s a lot more hittable now compared to in the past and that’s where Bradley will have a huge advantage. He’s got great stamina and there’s nothing wrong with his legs. Bradley will be able to keep fighting hard long into the fight, whereas Pacquiao’s legs and conditioning will likely cause him to cramp up and tire in the later part of the fight. Bradley will notice the drop off in Pacquiao’s work rate and then start taking control over the fight round by round. In the end, I see Bradley as having done more than enough to deserve a 12 round decision.