A third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley won?t resolve anything that hasn?t already been resolved?
When is a rubber match not a rubber match? A rubber match is not a rubber match when one of the fighters won the first two fights. The record books may say otherwise, but record books can be wrong, unlike the consumer, who is always right, and of course always gullible.
On April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs), the Congressman from General Santos City, Philippines, returns to the ring to get it on with Timothy Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs), from Palm Springs, California, a third time.
After much talk about Terence Crawford being an ideal opponent; after Amir Khan, boxing?s forgotten man, was considered and quickly rejected; after the light shone on Adrien Broner for a few consequential moments; the Pacquiao Brain Trust (i.e., Top Rank?s Bob Arum) has decided that a third fight with Bradley is not only warranted, it may even be profitable.
?It?s a done deal,? said Arum, ?and it?s going to be a third fight against Timothy Bradley. We took a lot of consideration knowing Bradley has improved a lot as a fighter since the last time they?ve met in 2014.?
Just how much Bradley has improved can be gauged by his TKO of Brandon Rios in his last fight. Rios, one of boxing?s iron men, had never been stopped before. But he had lost two of his last four fights going into the fight and somehow forgot to train for Tim Bradley,
There were doubts as to whether Pacquiao would even fight again following his ho-hum loss to Floyd Mayweather, especially when that dud was followed by a lame excuse for a dramatically unimaginative showing.
But after arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder and the healing ministrations of his Lord and Savior, Manny is apparently as good as new and has no intention of retiring after April?s fight.
?It?s not going to be Manny?s last fight,? Arum said, ?because anything could still happen and you know Manny. That?s why we won?t sell it that way. I don?t think it is Manny?s last fight.?
Having said that ?It?s not going to be Manny?s last fight,? Arum, who muddies the waters with the best of them, told Reuters, ?I don?t want to say that (it?s his last fight). I?m not going to sell it as that because I don?t want everybody to say, ?Hey, it?s his last fight, come and see it!? and then it turns out that it?s not his last fight.?
In an attempt to make it appear that it was Pacquiao?s decision to fight Bradley a third time, Arum said, ?We all gave him an input. From the cable companies, the satellite providers, MGM?it was about who is the strongest opponent from a marketable standpoint and we outlined everything for him and we were down to three choices and he thought Bradley was the one that made the most sense.?
No one except Arum, Pacquiao, the cable companies, the satellite providers and MGM seems especially pleased about Pacquiao-Bradley III. The been-there-done-that attitude is relevant to the two fighters, and a third fight won?t resolve anything that hasn?t already been resolved.
Bradley is a good fighter, maybe even an elite fighter, but a fight with Crawford, even a fight with Khan or Broner, would have had more meaning and generated more excitement.
Bradley is a better opponent for Pacquiao than Berto was for Mayweather from a boxing standpoint, but only by degrees.
