Why Bradley is going to win on April 12th

By Boxing News - 03/31/2014 - Comments

bradley544By Hector Gonzalez: Most of the articles I’ve read regarding Tim Bradley vs. Manny Pacquiao II have something to do with their controversial first fight, to make it clear, I’m not even going to address the first fight. This article is based on where I see both of these men today. My prediction is that Bradley is going to win, he will do it counter intuitively because he’s not going to win by what his hands can do, instead he’s going to win by what his feet can do. Bradley has better footwork than Pacquiao and footwork will be the story of this fight.

Manny Pacquiao’s sensationalism many times does not allow the public to see him doing anything else but be sensational. I’ll give an example, before Pacquiao vs Marquez 3 both Pacquiao and Roach were quoted as saying that Pacquiao would KO Marquez in round 1. Much of the public during that time believed that Pacquiao was going to in fact KO Marquez, not only did it not happen but according to an ESPN poll 75% of fans believe that Pacquiao lost the fight. My point is that whatever was driving people to believe that Pacquiao would KO Marquez had more to do with that sensationalism that I’m referring to. Close observers could see that If Pacquiao’s only tool was the double jab left hook he would have a hard time catching Marquez, and not only that, he himself would be vulnerable to the right counter. Using the same analogy against Bradley, there are similar discrepancies that I will address later.

When Pacquiao fans are asked why Pacquiao doesn’t have the ‘Killer Instinct’ he had against other opponents such as Morales, Cotto, or Hatton, fans will resort so saying that Pacquiao is being ‘too nice’, he’s ‘holding back’. I have a different interpretation, that killer instinct only worked against fighters who were 1.) Small, 2.) Stationary, or 3.) Slow. Timothy Bradly is neither. Another very realistic conclusion could be that Pacquiao may not have those killer instincts anymore.

Another thing to consider is that fans are not being honest about how much wear and tear that Pacquiao has taken to his body. He’s been in major wars. In the last few years has suffered from a broken ear drums, broken ribs, a flash knockdown and a 2 minute concussion. That’s only the obvious. Although Bradley took a lot of punishment from Ruslan Provodnikov, it’s nowhere near the punishment that Pacquiao has taken during his long career.

Like I mentioned earlier, Bradley will win this fight with his feet except this time he will not have a rolled ankle. Pacquiao will have a hard time catching Bradley. Pacquiao’s speed will be neutralized by constant movement and counters. Watching Pacquiao vs Rios showed that Pacquiao still will look good against stationary slow fighters, however, Pacquiao’s foot placement and punch output looked the same. There was a lack of craft missing that before was not needed because pure aggression and speed would get the job done, but I don’t think that’s enough against a fast crafty fighter like Bradley.

My prediction is that Timothy Bradley will win a unanimous decision fight.

Contact Hector Gonzalez at Hect59@hotmail.com



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