By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) thinks he won 10 of the 12 rounds in his previous fight against Tim Bradley (31-0, 12 KO’s) two years ago in 2012, and he’s now looking to improve upon that performance by winning all 12 rounds in their rematch on April 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquiao also is interested in stopping the 30-year-old Bradley if the chance is there for him. However, it’s not going to be easy for Pacquiao to get a stoppage or to win a lot of rounds against Bradley because he’s not going to plod forward like his recent opponent light welterweight Brandon Rios. That was a case of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum digging up the perfect opponent for Pacquiao to shine against in letting him fight Rios, who had been schooled badly by an average Mike Alvarado in his previous fight.
Rios made Alvarado look like Floyd Mayweather Jr. in losing to him last year. It was obvious in watching that fight that Rios would be no trouble at all for Pacquiao, and that’s exactly what happened.
“I won at least 10 rounds against Tim Bradley the first time we fought,” Pacquiao said via RingTV. “I intend to win all the rounds against him this time regardless of the length of the fight. He said I have lost my hunger and that my time is over.”
I think Pacquiao needs to learn to walk before he runs in dealing with Bradley. We saw last time that Bradley outworked a very lazy looking Pacquiao in winning the decision, and there was no way that Pacquiao won 10 rounds. The fact of the matter is he gave away the fight by failing to cut off the ring and work hard for the full 3 minutes of every round.
Bradley impressed the judges, and he impressed me with how he gutted it out. Bradley put forth a blue collar performance against a fighter that is in the Mercedes class, and he showed that you don’t have to possess huge talent in order to beat Pacquiao. You just have to be smarter than him, and willing to work harder than him.
Bradley’s job might be easier in the rematch due to Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach talking once again about bringing the old Pacquiao back. Roach wants the younger Pacquiao to emerge from hiding, as if something like that were humanely possible. What Roach is going to be pushing Pacquiao to do is to bum rush Bradley for 12 rounds like Pacquiao did in his 6th round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.
If Pacquiao tries to realize Roach’s dream of him finding the fountain of youth on April 12th, we could see Pacquiao face down on the canvas fast asleep. Even a light-hitting fighter like Bradley is capable of knocking Pacquiao out if he fights like a wild man in the ring while blindly following Roach’s instructions.
Like I said before, Pacquiao would be so much better off if he would lose Roach and bring back the guy that turned him into a success in Alex Ariza. He’s the guy that made Pacquiao what he is in the welterweight division in my view, and I think he would do a better job training him than Roach.
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