By Chris Williams: If there’s one kind of fighter that WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao has problems with it’s a fighter that can think on his fight, adapt and apply pressure on him. Above all, Pacquiao has major problems when facing smart fighters that aren’t shot or drained by one of the catchweights that he sometimes uses. Tim Bradley will be facing Pacquiao on June 9th, and Bradley excellent at making changes to his game when something isn’t working.

He’s done that many, many times in his fights when he’s having problems with a particular style or game plan that his opponent is using. Indeed, Bradley got up off the deck to defeat Kendall Holt after getting knocked down by him early in their fight.

Bradley says he can tell by looking at a fighter whether he’s got their number and can beat them. He says he knows he can beat Pacquiao. He’s already sized Pacquiao up and studied his game well. He knows exactly what he has to do in order to beat him, and he also knows what kind of adjustments that Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach will be making to the things he’s doing in the ring. It’s pretty simple to figure out Roach. If Pacquiao’s getting eaten up inside by Bradley like I think he will, Roach will tell Pacquiao to start moving around on the outsides to try evade the inside pressure from Bradley.

That would work if this were the slow-footed, slow-handed Antonio Margarito that Pacquiao was facing next month but it’s not. Pacquiao will be dealing with a fighter that is lighting fast on his feet and an expert at cutting off the ring against a retreating target. Pacquiao’s legs are starting age and it’s doubtful that he’ll even be able to carry out Roach’s instructions even if he wanted to. It’s just not realistic for Pacquiao to be able to do this at this point. He can try it but his legs will probably cramp up, and he’ll be trapped as a stationary target against the younger Bradley.