By John F. McKenna (McJack): When Filipino icon World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) enters the ring on June 9 at the MGM Grand Arena to do battle with WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (28-0-1 NC, 12 KO’s) it will be a fight worth watching.

Rest assured that Pacquiao wants to erase the bad taste left in the mouths of his supporters after his poor performance against WBO/WBA lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) last November. In essence, “Pacman” wants to prove to his fans and detractors alike that he is still at the top of his game and far from being washed up as a fighter.

“Desert Storm” also has much to prove. Bradley has a hunger that can only be satisfied by defeating the superstar that is Manny Pacquiao and taking away his WBO welterweight title. Timothy believes he has the tools to defeat “Pacman”. Of course that is what you would expect a fighter to say when he is in training for a title fight. But in Bradley’s case he appears to be sincere in the belief that he will emerge from the MGM Grand Arena on the evening of June 9 with Manny’s WBO title belt in hand.

It is indeed a rare occurrence these days when two such highly motivated and talented fighters clash in the ring. And after some of the recent occurrences in boxing, such as the unfortunate brawl between Derrick Chisora and David Haye, in addition to the outrageous behavior and ridiculous name calling which accompany many of today’s fights Pacquiao and Bradley are both class acts. Both fighters refuse to bad mouth or engage in trash talk about each other.

All indications are that the Pacquiao and Bradley contest will be a competitive one. Both fighters are in their primes. Manny has been stung by the criticism heaped on him by some in the media who insist that he only takes on fighters who are past their primes.
As for Bradley, he is currently ranked by Ring Magazine as the #8 Pound for Pound fighter in the world. Pacquiao is still arguably the #1 Pound for Pound fighter in the world.

The match up for the June 9 showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley is shaping up to be one of the few fights over the past several years which promise to be a truly entertaining fight. It is this writer’s opinion that both fighters will figuratively go out on their shields rather than disgrace themselves by not giving their very best performance.