LAS VEGAS ? Manny Pacquiao barely escaped to fight another day, and would need 28 stitches to close the cut over his right eye. Juan Manuel Marquez had nearly ended his remarkable run, but that didn’t stop Pacquiao from singing at his post-fight concert and partying the night away with his huge entourage.
He returns to the ring tonight, determined to show his last outing was nothing more than a fluke. Little known Timothy Bradley will be his opponent in a fight that could either end Pacquiao’s lucrative career or revitalize it.
This time, though, there will be no concert, and no party. Win or lose, the only thing on Pacquiao’s post-fight agenda is a Bible study session and some time with his wife.
He claims to be a changed man, and the people around him say he really is. What no one really knows, though, is how it will affect him in the ring, something that makes this fight a bit more intriguing than most.
“It’s 100 percent good,” insists Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach. “He’s much more focused now. From all the distractions he had, the trade-off is unbelievable.”
Oddsmakers aren’t so sure, making Pacquiao a relatively short 4-1 favorite against the unbeaten Bradley. He was a 7-1 pick against Marquez, but was lucky to come away with a majority decision in a fight that could have gone either way.
Pacquiao said afterward that he just had problems with the style of Marquez. Those close to him, though, said personal problems and marital discord troubled him through training camp all the way into the dressing room before the fight, when he was still so consumed by them that he failed to warm up properly.
