By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach isn’t concerned about the danger that Tim Bradley presents for his aging fighter Manny Pacquiao for their big fight tonight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Roach believes that Bradley is the perfect guy for Pacquiao to look good against.

Of course, Roach also thought Pacquiao would easily beat Juan Manuel Marquez last November, and we saw what happened there. Pacquiao got schooled by the Mexican fighter. Roach now blames Pacquiao’s dreadful performance on family problems instead of old age and/or lack of skills.

Roach said “I think this opponent [Bradley] is made to order for us. Whatever he does, we do better. Being tough is a good thing to be in boxing, but it doesn’t win fights…I’m not worried about him”

I kind of disagree with what Roach is saying here. Pacquiao isn’t a better defensive fighter than Bradley. That’s a joke if Roach believes that Pacquiao is better than Bradley in defensive skills. It’s also pretty clear that Bradley is a better inside fighter that Pacquiao. Bradley is perhaps the best fighter at close range in both the light welterweight and welterweight divisions.

The one thing that Pacquiao is better at is his ability to hit and run. But even that has deteriorated in his last few fights because Pacquiao’s legs aren’t able to get him around like they used to due to his problems with leg cramps. Pacquiao is a stronger puncher, but it doesn’t matter because he won’t be able to land a lot of shots because of Bradley’s excellent defensive skills.

At the same time, Pacquiao is vulnerable to body shots, and that’s one thing that Bradley is very good at. He’s a superb body puncher. If Bradley is able to set up shop on the inside against Pacquiao tonight, we could see Pacquiao chopped down just as 40-year-old Joel Casamayor was from Bradley’s body punching. I think Casamayor was always a great fighter at absorbing body shots, but even he couldn’t handle Bradley’s body shots. I don’t rate Pacquiao as being good at taking body shots, and I think we could see a knockout tonight if Bradley can pound him to his weak area for any length of time.