By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (31-0, 12 KO’s) weighed in successfully today for his fight on Saturday night against Filipino star Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bradley weighed in at 145.5 pounds and looked totally cut up, and in excellent shape.
The pro-Manny crowd booed Bradley the entire time, but this seemed to encourage him because he thrives on being booed. The fans probably didn’t realize they were helping him get even more motivated than he already is. Just in looking at Bradley, I think he looks a lot better than Pacquiao as far as being in good shape.
Bradley looks a lot younger as well, and that’s something that could play a huge part in the outcome of this fight. Pacquiao seems like he’s no longer capable of knocking out any of his opponents at this point in his career, even when facing weak opposition like Brandon Rios.
Whether people want to acknowledge this or not, Bradley has the better boxing skills than Pacquiao does, and if the fight goes the distance he’s going to have the better chance of winning the fight on the cards. The only way Pacquiao will win a decision is if the judges feel like they have to bend over backwards to give him rounds because of the controversy surrounding their previous fight in 2012, which I feel Bradley clearly won.
Bradley will push a fast pace on Saturday night and force the aging Pacquiao to use his legs more in this fight than he has ever before. Pacquiao can’t take that kind pace at his age, and I suspect his legs will start cramping up by the 6th round under the stress.
Bradley said “I’ve got to knock Pacquiao out. That’s what I’ve got to do. I don’t it to go to the scorecards.”
Bradley knows that he may get robbed if it goes to the cards, and that’s why he wants to knock the Filipino star clean out on Saturday night.
Other weights on the card:
Ray Beltran 134.5 vs. Arash Usmanee 135
Khabib Allakhverdiev 139.5 vs. Jessie Vargas 140
Bryan Vasquez 130 vs. Jose Felix Jr 130
Sean Monaghan 175 vs. Joe McCreedy 173
Oscar Valdez 129 vs. Adrian Perez 130
Esquiva Falcao 161 vs. Pubilo Pena 162
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