By Chris Williams: Expert trainer Emanuel Steward says he sees some deterioration if the game of WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao recently, and he thinks that Tim Bradley, with his youth and ability, could capitalize on that tonight when they meet in the ring in Las Vegas.

Steward said the Los Angeles Times “I see a slow slippage in his [Pacquiao] delivery. The animal-like intensity is slightly less than it was. That’s the legs. It might not be there to the untrained eye, you’ll see.”

I can see it. Pacquiao is slowing down and starting to get old. The legs aren’t there and he’s getting hit more than ever. He’s becoming an old lion real fast, faster than he should considering he’s only 33. But people age faster than others, and it could be that Pacquiao is starting to show his gray.

Even Juan Manuel Marquez had something to say about Pacquiao, saying to the LA Times “The thing you have to watch is the legs. They’re the first things to go. And once they go, you have to do things you don’t want to do in the ring – like stand in there and get hit.”

That’s kind of what’s been happening in Pacquiao’a last three bouts. He’s getting hit a lot now because he’s not able to hop around the ring like a young rabbit in his earlier days. Pacquiao is getting tagged a lot, and he’s not able to do the things that his trainer Freddie Roach is barking at him between rounds. For sure, Roach is bragging and gloating as much as he’s always done, but his fighter Pacquiao is also getting hit more than ever did now, and it can’t be a good thing for his marbles. If he wants to be a politician, Pacquiao is going to need to get his legs back to what they once where so he doesn’t get hit quite so much as he does now.

From the glimpses of the sparring that Pacquiao has done to get ready for the Bradley fight, Pacquiao’s legs still aren’t back to what they once where. Even without leg camps to cripple his workouts, Pacquiao looks slow on his feet and isn’t able to hop around to avoid taking shots. He wasn’t facing anyone really dangerous in his sparring like he will be against Bradley tonight, yet Pacquiao was getting hit a lot. His sparring partners had no trouble landing their shots, because he wasn’t able to move to avoid the punishing blows.