TRILOGY in the horizon, you say?
What are you, a jerk? Turkey.
It?s a done deal. Almost literally, that is.
As early as 2011, the Pacquiao-Bradley Trilogy has been booked; up to 2013, if you still don?t know it, fellers.
After that split decision robbery of a win by Bradley on June 10 (Manila Time), Bradley fights Pacquiao again on Nov. 11 (Manila Time).
Mark my word: Pacquiao will win that one to make it dead even at 1-1.
Whether Pacquiao wins it by knockout or not, it won?t matter. A third fight is almost as sure as today ending at the stroke of 12 o?clock midnight. The decider is going to happen most likely in June 2013.
OK, you want more flashback?
After Manny Pacquiao?s majority decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez last November, Bradley was immediately ordered to step forward for the introductions.
?Yes Sir, yes Sir, reporting for duty, Sir!? he said. ?My name is Timothy Bradley Jr., the junior welterweight champion of the world, Sir.?
Is there anything more special about you worth considering, soldier?
?I am unbeaten in 28 fights, Sir!?
Umm, you deserve a second look. At ease, while I attend to an unfinished business.
For the record, Bob Arum handles both Pacquiao and Bradley.
Now, my lips are sealed?
N?yet.
Bob Arum, while he leaves Bradley momentarily, pursues Floyd Mayweather Jr. a third time. Make or break, so to speak.
Still, no dice, though, for Arum, fellers.
Mayweather is adamant. He sticks to his guns; thumbs down Arum?s conditions. Whatever are Mayweather?s reasons for repeatedly shooting down a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, even the gods of boxing couldn?t figure out.
Meanwhile, The Money rejecting Arum a third time is heaven both for Bradley and PacMan. Read on.
We don?t know the full details of the last Arum-Mayweather talks.
But from my ever reliable legman, this: The main meat of that meeting was, Arum will get only 40 percent or less from a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. Arum was told to share the loot with Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya and, yes, Pacquiao.
You can?t do that to Arum. At this stage of Arum?s career, the eightyish Arum is not supposed to take a slice of the cake almost equal to that of the pack. Half of the whole, yes to him maybe; but lesser than that?
Mohamed doesn?t go up the mountain; the mountain goes down to Mohamed.
Arum is so grizzled a veteran all this time that no one, not even Lee Kuan Yew I should say, could outfox him.
And so, despite his perorations that the Pacquiao-Bradley had a ?ludicrous? result in an oblique ?assault? on the two judges? decision giving the fight to Bradley, the trilogy is on.
To be sure, there had been trilogies before, the most famous one, of course, involved Muhammad Ali and the late Joe Frazier. Frazier won the first on March 8, 1971 by unanimous decision after flooring Ali with a left hook in the 15th. Ali evened the score on Jan. 28, 1974 with a similar victory on points. Then in their third meeting that was arguably the greatest fight of all time, Ali won by a 14th-round TKO in the ?Thrilla in Manila? on Oct. 1, 1975, when Frazier?s trainer, Eddie Futch, ordered Frazier to stay seated at the corner when the bell rang for the 15th.
And get this: Arum also played a key role in the ?Thrilla in Manila.?
Pacquiao himself is no stranger to trilogies. He beat Erik Morales 2-1, losing the first on points and winning the last two both by knockout. Against Marquez, Pacquiao settled for a draw in the first after decking the Mexican three times in the first round before winning the last two on points.
Thus, if history be the gauge, Pacquiao should win his next two fights against Bradley.
And for that to happen, Pacquiao must beat Bradley on Nov. 11, its certainty seemingly written in the stars already if we go by what the events tell us as early as last year yet.
Simply put, the script must be followed to the letter, whether the incarcerated Mayweather wins a plea for house arrest or not.
What Arum wants, he gets it.
