In what might be his last fight, Manny Pacquiao will face Timothy Bradley for the third time in his career Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Pacquiao lost a split decision to Bradley in 2012 and won a unanimous decision in 2014.
Pacquiao is 7-3-1 against fighters he has faced at least twice: Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.
Pacquiao closing his career?
Pacquiao and his promoter stated that he will retire from boxing after Saturday?s fight. If that is the case, his legacy is cemented whether he wins or loses. No fighter has won belts in as many weight classes as Pacquiao (eight), and he has won three Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Fighter of the Year awards. Pacquiao was noticeably less active in his last fight due to a bad shoulder. He landed 81 total punches against Floyd Mayweather, his fewest in a 12-round fight in the past seven years. Pacquiao averaged 7.2 combinations thrown per round against Mayweather, compared to 11.8 in his previous five fights.
Look for Pacquiao to attack the right side of Bradley?s head. In his past five fights, 86 percent of Pacquiao?s punches have been to the head of his opponent. Bradley has taken 61 percent of his damage to the right side of his head in his past five fights.
Bradley?s fights have been close
Bradley gained a reputation for unpredictable finishes after his split-decision win against Pacquiao in 2012. Since that bout, Bradley has been in several fights that have been close on the cards or ended with controversy.
Jessie Vargas, June 2015 ? Bradley was staggered in the 12th round by Vargas. After the fighters clinched, referee Pat Russell thought he heard the bell and called the fight with fewer than 10 seconds left. Vargas assumed that he had won by technical knockout, but Bradley won by unanimous decision 115-112, 116-112, 117-111.
Diego Chaves, Dec. 2014 ? Even though both fighters were relatively even — 47.7 punches thrown per round for Bradley and 47.5 for Chaves, according to CompuBox — Bradley landed 39 percent of his punches compared to 27 percent from Chaves. The judges scored this bout a split-draw 115-113 for Bradley, 112-116 for Chaves and 114-114.
Juan Manuel Marquez, Oct. 2013 ? Bradley out-landed Marquez in total punches by 15, but Marquez landed more power punches, according to CompuBox (86-115). Bradley pulled out the split-decision win against Marquez 115-113, 116-112, 113-115.
Ruslan Provodnikov, March 2013 ? Bradley was knocked down in the 12th round by Provodnikov (the only knockdown of the fight) with fewer than 10 seconds to go. Bradley ended up winning the fight by unanimous decision 115-112, 114-113, 114-113.
Two days before the fight, Pacquiao was a minus-250 favorite (meaning a winning $250 bet on him would earn $100) at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. Bradley was plus-195 (a $100 winning bet would make $195).
