First and foremost, I would like to say that this fight is going to be a real clash of the titans type of fight. Timothy Bradley (28-0) is a real dog, Bradley is an in your face bite down and fight type of fighter. That is what a lazy eye sees when he looks at Bradley, but a trained eye can see that Bradley is more than just that, Bradley is also a very smart fighter that can adapt to whatever style you happen to throw at him.
During the faceoff with Pacquiao, when the term catch him cold was thrown out there, I strongly agreed with that then, and I still do now. Pacquiao is going to have to catch Bradley with an iceberg and place Bradley in the freezer with that Manila ice shot of his to win this fight. As much as I respect Pacquiao and his work rate, I see way too much hunger and fire in Bradley to see anyone out hustling Bradley right now. As always and especially these days, Bradley is in straight up super beast mode, it?s going to take a terminator with 2 pistols to outshoot Bradley come June 9th. Come to think about it, the only way to beat Pacquiao right now is to also catch him cold, because I just don?t see 2 of the 3 judges sitting ringside scoring against him.
Pacquiao (54-3-2) is still very hungry, but I just don?t think that his drive is all the way in it anymore. And I am not saying this because of Pacquiao?s recent fights either. I say that because a lot of fans and writers have said that Pacquiao has looked like trash in his last 3 or 4 fights, I disagree with that. I feel that only Juan Manuel Marquez has made Pacquiao look mortal by beating him in the ring and almost beating him on the cards. But these days, a fighter must knock a Pacquiao or Mayweather out or knock them down a few times in consecutive rounds in order to get the win, and even then it may not be guaranteed. I am no longer one of them due to the time that I have been held hostage by both Pacquiao and Mayweather, but truth is, everyone out there will still love to see those two get it on. Mayweather/Pacquiao is THE fight that everyone wants to see happen, so the actions of others outside that ring can and will be forced to see the fight very differently.
In this fight I am going to pick Bradley to play spoiler and spoil the wet dream of Mayweather/Pacquiao, I am going to pick Bradley because I can see that Bradley has more under his legs than Pacquiao does at this particular time. Pacquiao?s recent leg cramps in fights worries me. Pacquiao is going to have to count a lot more on his legs in this fight than ever before, the kind of impact making punches that Pacquiao will have to land on Bradley, Pacquiao will need 100% support from his legs to really make those shots count. Will that support be there? I am not sure, at this point Manny himself is not sure. Going back to those fans and writers that think that Pacquiao is now a shot fighter because of his last 3 or 4 fights or so, let?s look closer with our own eyes and not by what your best friend is telling you.
Let?s start with Cotto, Cotto was even with Pacquiao in 1 or 2 rounds then Pacquiao dominated him the rest of the way, and don?t bring the cop out of the catch weight up because if Cotto didn?t have a problem with the weight then why should you? Pacquiao then went on to also dominate Clottey, Pacquiao hit Clottey so hard that Clottey was forced to hide behind a shell for almost the entire fight. Clottey then sat out for nearly 2 years before he even entertained the thought of getting back inside the ring. Pacquiao then nearly beat Margarito to death, and may have possibly ended Margarito?s career by crushing bones in Margarito?s face. Pacquiao then forced the great Shane Molsey to hop on a bike and pedal away once Mosley felt the heat. Then the Marquez fight was next and that was truly the only real time that Pacquiao looked like trash to me.
If memory serves me right, during the Clottey, Mosley, and Marquez fights was when Pacquiao experienced leg cramps while fighting, that may be a big reason as to why Pacquiao looked as if he lost a step or two when he faced Marquez in his last fight. Or was it Marquez?s great timing that made it look that way? Who knows, maybe it was a combination of both. At this time, as I mentioned above, I know it?s a long shot, especially since I mentioned above that it is nearly impossible to win on points over a Mayweather or a Pacquiao, but I am going to do just that by picking Bradley to win by sd. Yes, the leg cramps worry me that much.
