By Chris Williams: Challenger Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KO’s) says he wants to get down to a lean 145lbs for his June 9th fight against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, according to boxing news from Examiner.com.

Bradley feels that the lighter weight will help him with his speed and quickness instead of coming into the fight weighing 152 and losing the rest of the weight with dehydrating. However, Bradley’s trainer wants him to come in heavier at 150 so that he’ll have added bulk to work with for the Pacquiao fight but Bradley doesn’t want to and it looks like Bradley will get his way.

This could be a big mistake on Bradley’s part by coming in lighter because it’s something that could hurt him if he ends up being weakened. One of the advantages that the 5’6″ Bradley has used to make up for his lack of height is by being heavy in the ring. With his short center of gravity, he’s like a little bull on the inside against taller opposition. This gives Bradley one heck of an advantage when working in close. But if he’s going to give that up by coming in lighter for the fight, he could find himself in a situation where he has no advantages in the fight, because he already won’t be able to do much at a distance because that’s not his game.

Bradley can throw long shots with a lot of speed, but he tends to fall into his opponents when he does this. I don’t think that’s a good tactic to use against the counter-punching southpaw Pacquiao, because it’ll leave Bradley vulnerable to getting hit on the way in or immediately after throwing one of his shots. If he’s confident in his ability to take Paquiao’s power shots, then he might want to risk it but I wouldn’t advise for him to risk it.

I don’t know what it is but when guys face Pacquiao, they sometimes over-train and mess themselves up with needless diets to make weight. Bradley can’t do this. He needs to listen to his trainer and come into the fight in the 150s and drain down to 147 for the weigh-in. He doesn’t need to strip off muscle because he thinks it’s going to make him quicker. That’s probably going to be a recipe for disaster. Bradley’s walking around weight is 160 pounds of solid muscle, so if he takes off 15 pounds of muscle to fight Pacquiao at 145lbs, he’s going to be asking for it. I can see Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach licking his chops at the news that Bradley is thinking of coming in lean. Roach probably knows that would give Pacquiao every advantage he needs in the fight to win it.