by Bob Smith: I was one of the many boxing fans who a year and a half ago watched the travesty of the 12 round unanimous decision win for Tim Bradley against Manny Pacquiao in their fight in June of 2012. It was difficult not to be angry and think of boxing as fixed, because the decision was so atrocious. I even made a resolve not to watch boxing that lasted an entire week.
Not much has changed with either Pacquiao or with Bradley since that time. Okay, to be fair, Bradley went through a war with Ruslan Provodnikov to try to prove himself, but he was down several times and even had problems with slurred speech. And Manny was knocked out in spectacular fashion by Juan Manuel Marquez, who finally got his revenge after several close decision losses to Pacquiao.
I was not surprised at all that Juan Manuel Marquez lost to Bradley and beat Pacquiao. However, this does not mean that Bradley is better than Pacquiao. Bradley is naturally the much bigger and quicker fighter than Marquez, and did a successful job of controlling the distance and scoring points and avoiding major mistakes against Marquez. By contrast, Marquez defeated Pacquiao only through years of study, perhaps an obsession, and drinking his own pee on a regular basis.
So, I disagree with those who view Pacquiao as a shot fighter and Bradley as incredibly improved. Pacquiao demonstrated many of the skills from his former fights against Rios, and though his power has slipped a bit, it is important to give Rios credit as well – he is a tough fighter and was very motivated. Moreover, Bradley was a very good but underrated fighter before Pacquiao; now he is a slightly better but overrated fighter. His match against Marquez worked to make him look much better than he is – he simply matched up better against the naturally smaller Marquez. I had him winning a close fight due to those advantages before the fight and this proved correct.
Pacquiao did win by unanimous decision a year and a half ago but this time he will prove it with a stunning KO of Bradley in the 6th to 10th round. Bradley foolishly went to war with Provodnikov, and he will take a few chances against Pacquiao and will be punished dearly for this. Why is it I wonder that everyone talks about Pacquiao and difficulty letting his punches go, when Pacquiao suffered only one KO loss to a world class and Hall of Fame fighter who was obsessed with beating him for years, and not Bradley who suffered a concussion and slurred speech against a much lesser fighter in Provodnikov? If anyone will be hurt in this fight or will have difficulty letting his punches go it will be Bradley.
My hope is that Pacquiao will not do any lasting damage, for Bradley suffered major consequences with Provodnikov that can recur easily in another war. But my prediction is that this time around, Manny’s speed and power and motivation to finish the job will carry him to victory. In the best case scenario for Bradley, he will lose a clear unanimous decision, but I just don’t see the fight lasting the full 12 rounds.
And then, hopefully, we can finally have Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao in September, after Mayweather outpoints Amir Khan in May!
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