By Chris Williams: Bob Arum thinks his fighter Manny Pacquiao is a completely different fighter now that he’s into religion and not running around. Arum believes that Pacquiao looks healthier and will be a better fighter in the ring against Tim Bradley on June 9th.

Arum said to Jim Lampley “You have to understand since his [Pacquiao] last fight last November, he’s become wholly different person; he’s super religous, he does bible study every night. Sometimes I get the impression I’m promoting Rick Santorum and not Manny Pacquiao. Who knows what effect it will have on his ring ability.”

Yeah, who knows? I don’t see it as having any effect on Pacquiao’s ring ability. He’s still about to turn 34, and he’s been through too many wars and taken too many strong shots lately, even against the Top Rank stable fighters that Arum has been putting him in with over and over again. When you get up there age, it doesn’t matter how much sleep you get, how clean you live, you’re still old. Pacquiao is facing a younger guy in Bradley that will be putting a ton of pressure on Pacquiao, forcing him to fight a lot harder than he’s had to in many years.

I expect Pacquiao to gas out and take a beating in this fight and clearly lose the fight, but still win with the judges giving him a decision like in his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. At this point, Pacquiao probably can’t be beaten by a decision unless he’s knocked down five or six times in different rounds. I don’t see three judges agreeing to score the fight against Pacquiao. I just can’t see it. Bradley is going to have to have to put in a superman performance by battering Pacquiao for 12 rounds, or he’ll have to KO him viciously to the point where he’s down for 20 seconds or more.

As far as Pacquiao being a better fighter because he’s not running around town, I don’t see it happening. He is what he is – a fighter in his 30s who has been through a ton of wars.