There’s a feeling among some observers that there’s absolutely no way Timothy Bradley will walk away with the win and the WBO welterweight belt against Manny Pacquiao when the two meet on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. To be even more specific, some feel that there’s no way Bradley will be allowed to walk away with the win over Pacquiao in this high profile rematch. Related Stories Has Manny Pacquiao Abandoned PEDs Testing Fervor for Rematch with Tim Bradley? Yahoo Contributor Network Pacquiao, Bradley both seek redemption in rematch The Associated Press Boxing-Redemption the lure for both Bradley and Pacquiao Reuters Is Floyd Mayweather?s No-Arum Demand for Manny Pacquiao Over the Line? Yahoo Contributor Network Pacquiao, Bradley face enhanced testing in Vegas The Associated Press
Yes, an injustice was dished out to Pacquiao the last time these two fighters met back in June of 2012. A controversial split decision in favor of Bradley cost the Filipino icon the WBO belt as well as a fifteen fight, seven year winning streak. Most knowledgeable observers felt that Pacquiao deserved the victory over Bradley by scores ranging anywhere from 116-112 to 118-110.
However, Bradley got the win and he took the brunt of the backlash that was bound to come along with the apparent fleecing of boxing’s most beloved fighter. With death threats on one side and a sudden career dead end on the other, Bradley kept plugging away while insisting that he did, indeed, beat Manny.
It wasn’t easy, but the tough former junior welterweight kingpin found a way to get back into the good graces of the boxing public. It took a brutal bludgeoning in his victory over Ruslan Provodnikov and a skillful, albeit less-than-scintillating win over Juan Manuel Marquez in 2013 for the fans to forgive Bradley for being the beneficiary of Pacquiao’s misfortune.
Now, fans and media are back to giving Bradley all the credit and respect he deserves as one of the most successful fighters in the sport today. This doesn’t mean, though, that all is forgotten and that Bradley isn’t coming into this upcoming Pacquiao rematch at a distinct disadvantage.
Manny Pacquiao is big business and a business that needs to keep rolling forward after two straight defeats and a dominant, but ultimately disappointing win over Brandon Rios in Macau, China that also proved to be a pay-per-view flop.
In the best interest of Team Pacquiao, promoter Bob Arum, and all things dragged into Manny’s buck-making gravitation pull, the eight-division former world champ must look impressive in beating a legitimate world class opponent like Bradley. At the very least, though, he has to win.
A loss for Pacquiao, legitimate or not, would effectively and officially put an end to the Pacquiao era. And although he will remain a world class fighter no matter what happens against Bradley, it will be impossible for him to generate the serious, serious money he used to generate when he was owning the ring and had America loving his impish out-of-ring charm.
So, for this reason, Timothy Bradley must lose on April 12.
It’s a safe assumption that what we’ll see in the ring for part two won’t be all that different than what we saw in part one. Both will essentially be the same fighters and even if some adjustments are made prior to the bout, it’s also safe to assume that both will revert back to form in the heat of battle.
But this time, because of the massive scandal that came to be in the aftermath of their first bout, more eyes will be focused on the judging and officiating. The judges, themselves, will be more self-conscious about the scoring. The end result will be that Bradley won’t likely be getting the benefit of the doubt for any close rounds in this upcoming bout and will have to go out and either dominate or knock Pacquiao out.
Bradley hasn’t stopped anyone since he scored a TKO win over faded former lightweight champ, Joel Casamayor in 2011 and the odds of him hurting Manny are extremely slim.
Don’t buy the sales pitch that Bradley will somehow come out and do any better this time than he did the last. The best that can be hoped for is a close, competitive bout featuring a Timothy Bradley who has decided to use his speed and reflexes to box rather than fight.
But, no matter what he does, it’ll take a miracle for Bradley to get the win on April 12. Be sure of that.
