On June 9th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada Ring magazine?s #1 pound for pound boxer Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2 with 38 KO?s) will battle undefeated two- time Junior Welterweight Champion Timothy Bradley (28-0 with 12 KO?s) for Pacquiao?s WBO Welterweight title. Both men last fought on November 11th of last year, so neither one will have an edge in regards to activity. The fact that Bradley is moving up to 147 is irrelevant in my view because Pacquiao could still easily make 140 lbs and actually has to eat his way up to 145 which is still 2 pounds below the welterweight limit. Bradley has fought his entire career at or slightly above 140 pounds, so one could argue that he is the naturally bigger man.
They are both the same height and Bradley appears to have a 2 inch reach advantage, although that is utilizing the moronic old school method of measuring reach from fingertip to fingertip across the chest. Why they ever included the length of the fingers when boxers punch with a closed fist is beyond this author?s comprehension. HBO has the right idea by measuring from the armpit to the end of the fist. That would indicate a boxer?s true reach at least as far as the jab is concerned. Broad shoulders would not be an advantage vis-?-vis the jab, but would be for a straight/overhand right or left.
As far as their skill set is concerned, both men bring a lot to the table from both a physical and a mental standpoint. Neither fighter has faced anyone quite like the other. Pacquiao having had twice as many fights as Bradley certainly has seen just about every conceivable style, but Bradley?s combination of speed, athleticism, chin and toughness, along with the confidence of being an undefeated fighter in his athletic prime is not something that Pacquiao has faced thus far.
Bradley of course has never had to face an opponent that brings to the table what Pacquiao brings (who has?), but when a man faces an icon that has been in the spotlight for as long as Manny has, it is usually the icon?s opponents that have the edge in regards to preparation. It?s far easier to focus on and analyze the #1 boxer who is also the cash cow than it is for the top banana to analyze his many potential challengers. I am sure that Bradley has envisioned himself in the ring with both Pacquiao and Mayweather for years now, and this author is a huge believer in the power of human thought and the law of attraction.
Timothy Bradley has all the physical and mental tools to defeat Pacquiao. The question becomes, can he win a decision? Let?s face it — boxing has had its fill of horrible decisions over the years. One doesn?t have to look too far back for a quintessential example. Over the weekend, Gabriel Campillo was robbed of the IBF Light Heavyweight title against Tavoris Cloud. A blind monkey could see that Campillo did enough to snatch the crown from Cloud. I am by no means suggesting that Pacquiao?s last victory over Marquez was an undeserving one, I actually scored the fight narrowly for Pacquiao. But, it begs the question that since Pacquiao is one of boxing?s two biggest cash cows (Mayweather being the other) and there?s a great chance this fight is going the distance given the fact that Bradley has never been dropped or stopped and doesn?t have the power to KO Pacquiao, can Bradley win a decision? Will the judges award a close, but convincing victory to Bradley and kill the potential Mayweather/Pacquiao dream fight from occurring?
A loss by either Pacquiao or Mayweather puts a fork in that super fight from every occurring. Remember when Oscar De La Hoya was gunning for Bernard Hopkins and his Undisputed Middleweight title and fought relative unknown/undefeated German Felix Sturm for his WBO title to get his feet wet at 160? Oscar lost that fight, but got the decision because there was simply too much money on the table for a fight against Hopkins. A Sturm victory would have killed the super-fight. The same injustice could happen to Bradley. History has a history of repeating itself.
