By Chris Williams: As much as I’d like to see WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KO’s) shock the world by beating WBO welterweight champ Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) on June 9th, I don’t think the judges will give the 28-year-old Bradley a decision win if the fight goes to the scorecards.
If you look at recent history in the fights that Pacquiao has had problems with, he’s still winning the close decisions. They go his way even when he appears to lose. It happened in 2008 in his 12 round split decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez, and then it happened again last November in Pacquiao’s 12 round majority decision win over Marquez.
That tells me that you probably can’t beat Pacquiao unless you give him a terrible thrashing that would make the judges look bad in front of the entire world if they give the decision to Pacquiao. I don’t think Bradley has the power to give Pacquiao a beating like that. I see Bradley as fighting well enough to beat Pacquiao by an 8-4 margin, which unfortunately would likely translate into a 7 rounds to 5 win for Pacquiao.
This is why I think Bradley may need to give Pacquiao a terrible beating and score some knockdowns along the way to ensure he gets the win. If he doesn’t knock Pacquiao down at least twice in the fight, I don’t think Bradley will be given the decision. Pacquiao’s a big money maker in Las Vegas, and having him dethroned will hurt boxing in a big way.
I like Bradley but I don’t think he would pack in the fans like Pacquiao does even if he would beat him. That’s why I think it may be entirely impossible for Bradley to beat Pacquiao short of stopping him. Boxing is entertainment, and I can’t see Pacquiao being allowed to lose by decision.
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