By Gareth Rees: This Saturday see’s Manny Pacquiao arguably the world’s number one pound-for-pound fighter takes on Timothy Bradley in what would be his first fight since the controversial win over Juan Manuel Marquez.

Whilst Pacquiao is undoubtedly alongside Floyd Mayweather the best boxer in the world and the biggest attraction, I can’t help but feel over the last few years he has fought guys who never had much of a chance for one reason or another.

I must admit I haven’t watched the current 24/7 series for the fight, purely because the Pacquiao series are always the same lines and plot. It shows him training in the Philippines then at the Wild Card Gym, with his coaches all worried he isn’t focusing enough on training which could cost him. The opponent usually get talked up to be better than they actually are, and with Pacquiao’s busy schedule means they are in the best shape of their lives and will be able to pull out an upset. Now tell me this series has not followed those types of lines and I will watch it. I don’t mind watching the Mayweather series because you know something different will happen but him and his team will still be confident knowing he’s going to win.

I would argue there is usually a similar pattern to the fighters that Pacquiao has faced since 2008. The majority of the fighters have lost one of their recent fights but were still highly ranked and well known. The defeat is rarely mentioned unless they are using it for motivation, but the truth is they are normally past their sell by date and should have retired after the defeat. The likes of Hatton, Mosley and to an extent De La Hoya fall into this category. I admit De La Hoya impressed in his defeat to Mayweather but that fight was at Light Middleweight and the fight before Pacquiao was at 150, so at his age he was always going to struggle at Welterweight against a faster Pacquiao.

I would put Cotto and Marquez in a slightly different category as they still had plenty in the tank after their losses, and was expected to be a tough affair for Pacquiao. I stand and applaud Pacquiao’s performance against Cotto, but would still question if Cotto had recovered mentally from the Margarito loss. The Marquez fight was something Pacquiao knew he couldn’t avoid forever and just got away with a win which was controversial, so I would definitely say this was a legitimate fight for Pacquiao. But definitely one of the few in recent times.

Now I turn to the category I feel Bradley would fall into. I think Bradley will test Pacquiao but will lose a heavy Unanimous Decision. Bradley is too talented and has a too good of a record to fall into the Clottey nowhere near Pacquiao level category, but I can’t seem to put him in the same category as Cotto. But what I do think is this will be another déjà vu fight for Pacquiao, where everyone beforehand has convinced themselves Bradley could surprise Pacquiao, but then after the fight will say Bradley wasn’t ready and was never at Pacquiao’s level. Let’s hope after he beats Bradley, Pacquiao does fight someone at his level in other words another Marquez fight if he doesn’t get the Mayweather fight we all want.