By Chris Williams: After losing his last fight by a 12 round unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. eight months ago in May 2015, Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) wants to make sure he gets a clear win over WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) in their fight on April 9th.
Pacquiao still is under the belief that he deserved the decision against Mayweather, even though many boxing fans believing that it was the correct decision the three judges handed down.
It’s kind of surprising that Pacquiao still believes he should have won that fight, because it seems to cut and dried that Mayweather was the better fighter through the 12 rounds of that fight.
“I want that clear victory for this fight. I am not saying I am going to knock him out but you know what happened the last fight. They [Mayweather] don’t want to accept that they lost that last fight. I will do my best to prove that Manny Pacquiao is still in his prime before I hang up my gloves,” Pacquiao said via Fightnews.com.
With Pacquiao resisting the notion that he lost to Mayweather despite it appearing to be a clear win for the American star, it might be in Bradley’s best interest to look for a knockout on April 9th to make sure that the fight doesn’t get to the judges’ hands. If Pacquiao doesn’t buy into the decision that the judges hand down like he clearly didn’t the last time he fought against Mayweather, then Bradley could wind up with another contested win over Pacquiao.
I think it’s going to be difficult for Pacquiao to get the decision in this fight. With the chances of Pacquiao continuing his pro career for a little while longer if he loses the fight, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Pacquiao gets beaten if the fight goes to the scorecards. In other words, Pacquiao might actually have a gripe this time if he loses by a decision.
I don’t think Pacquiao had a leg to stand on in thinking that he should have won the Mayweather fight, but I do think he might if he winds up losing to Bradley on April 9. I think Pacquiao deserved the decision over Bradley in their first fight in 2011. Things were kind of evening out the in boxing with that decision, because Pacquiao appeared to get gift decisions in his 2011 fight against Juan Manuel Marquez and in 2008.
I thought Pacquiao also deserved to lose the first fight against Marquez in 2004. With Pacquiao somehow dodging defeat in his three fights against Marquez from 2004 to 2011, it seemed only fair in my mind that Pacquiao finally found himself on the receiving end of a controversial decision in his first fight against Bradley. That was only one controversial loss for Pacquiao. That’s nothing compared to what Marquez endured in his first three fights against Pacquiao, because he believes he should have won those fights and a lot of fans agree with him.
“We considered Adrien Broner before this fight was made. Khan, Bradley, Marquez, and the rematch with Floyd,” Pacquiao said. “I chose Bradley because he is a different and improved fighter now. I am impressed with his performance. He knocked [Rios] out with body shots. We know Brandon Rios is hard to knock him out.”
Pacquiao chose Bradley because he beat what many fans saw as a bloated and out of shape 170lb Brandon Rios last November. You can’t tell whether Bradley was improved or not based on that fight because of the terrible conditioning that Rios came into the fight with. It makes no sense to say Bradley is a better fighter with new trainer Teddy Atlas, when you’ve only got that one fight against Rios to make your evaluation. If Bradley were to fight someone that was actually in shape and who had started their careers out at welterweight like Keith Thurman or Errol Spence, then you could say that Bradley is “different and an improved fighter now,” as Pacquiao said. It’s silly to judge whether Bradley is different after just one fight with new trainer against one of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum’s out of shape fighters. Rios looked like a punching bag with arms against Bradley. It’s too bad Arum didn’t have a better fighter to put in with Bradley rather than Rios. However, it was a good showcase opportunity for Bradley to help make a case for him deserving a third in house fight against Pacquiao.
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