In boxing, conventional wisdom says that the winner of the first match usually wins the rematch in more convincing fashion. When it comes to the rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, though, you can throw convention out the window.
Officially, Bradley won his June 2012 encounter with Pacquiao via split decision to take the WBO welterweight title. In reality, however, Bradley was gifted two judge scores of 115-113, issued by CJ Ross and Duane Ford. The real winner, in the eyes of most observers, was the eight-division world champ, Manny Pacquiao. This writer scored the bout 117-111 in favor of Pacquiao, a score which seemed in line with most other unofficial tallies.
So, if Pacquiao really won, then the rematch should feature a Pacquiao winning even more convincingly. Perhaps, even a stoppage victory can be registered by the Filipino icon.
But, again, let’s just throw convention and logic out the window.
Timothy Bradley will enter the ring on April 12 with a huge chip on his shoulder and the burning desire to prove that his victory over Pacquiao was not the product of inept judging or a mere scoring fluke. Bradley had to endure hell in the months following that win and has to be itching to make things real clear and convincing this time.
Fueled by the confidence of having registered a truly impressive 2013, Bradley comes into the Pacquiao rematch after having beaten the rugged Ruslan Provodnikov in a Fight of the Year brawl and after a competent, well-earned decision over Pacquiao conqueror, Juan Manuel Marquez. The pre-Pacquiao Bradley thought he could hang with the big dogs at welterweight, the 2014 Bradley knows it. That’s a big difference.
“In this fight, I can get all the credit for beating Pacquiao this time,” Bradley recently told Fighthype’s Ben Thompson. “I didn’t get no credit for the first fight. A lot of people, a lot of spectators, a lot of fans felt that I didn’t deserve it; that I didn’t win the fight. You know, that’s kind of hard, man, you know what I mean? That’s hard for me and I don’t think I can move forward in my career without fighting this guy again and putting no doubts in peoples’ mind and actually beating him convincingly, man. This is my opportunity to do that and I’m gonna do it.”
Of course, Pacquiao should be entering the ring on April 12 with a sizable chip on his shoulder as well. He’ll be fighting the man who took hold of his belt after two of the three judges robbed him of the victory. A burning passion for vengeance and redemption should be coursing through Manny’s veins as he prepares for the rematch.
The question with Pacquiao, though, is whether he’ll be a better fighter on April 12 than he was on June 9 of 2012 and whether the killer instinct of old still boils beneath the surface of his calm, cool exterior. Will the best of Bradley reignite the fire within Pacquiao?
Looking at it from the perspective of an interested observer of the sport, Pacquiao hasn’t really been Pacquiao for a long while now and the fire that drove him to dominating victory after dominating victory just a few years ago may be long extinguished. What’s left is good enough to beat 95% of the fighters out there, but is it enough to handle a supremely confident, rematch-minded Bradley?
