Pacquiao-Bradley: The Arum train keeps rolling

By Boxing News - 06/07/2012 - Comments

Image: Pacquiao-Bradley: The Arum train keeps rollingBy Tim Wathen: With the Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley fight only a few days away, it’s time to make the ultimate prediction and explain why this writer feels there will be a new king crowned Saturday night. Bob Arum and his company Top Rank do one thing better than any other promoter in the business.

They predict the future. That’s why they are so successful. They have the ability to predict the outcome of a high percentage of their fights. In my opinion, that’s why Arum made this fight. Pacquiao has been Arum’s main cash cow for years but I get the sense he sees it coming to an end.

With the likelihood of getting a fight with Floyd Mayweather dwindling, and running out of his own fighters to put in with Pacquiao, the future for his top fighter is looking bleak. Add the countless distractions, age, a long career and sub-par performances in recent fights to the equation and you can see why Arum may want to setup one of his younger fighters to take over the crown.

Bradley is the new long term investment of the company. Fights that were probably not possible with Pacquiao, such as a Khan fight and even a Mayweather fight are a real possibility with Bradley. Arum will also rake in a boat load on the Pacquiao rematch which is bound to draw more attention than Saturday night and essentially send Pacquiao into retirement unless Arum can convince him to do one last Marquez fight. Arum is a business man. He will always go in the direction of his future. Bradley certainly lacks the star power of Manny Pacquiao. He doesn’t have his power or speed. He does have determination and fire that will carry him through a lot of fights in the future. A win over Pacquiao will elevate him to the next level and make him a PPV fighter. That’s essentially what Arum needs to happen to keep the gravy train moving. He’s Arum’s best bet to move forward and he knows that. Bradley is in his prime and Pacquiao’s career is coming to an end.

I highly doubt Arum would have risked this fight if Pacquiao was younger and had fewer miles on him. It’s unlikely Bradley would beat Pacquiao in his prime. This leads me to my main point. Pacquiao is not that fighter we all watched and loved. He’s still a good fighter but he’s not an elite. Arum isn’t going to let Mayweather get a chance to beat him. He’s setting it up to pass the torch on his own terms.



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