ONCE and for all, Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao and the undefeated American Timothy Bradley are going to settle the issue on who is the better fighter.
Bradley will be looking to earn respect while Pacquiao can finally exact sweet revenge nearly two years after the fighting congressman from General Santos City here in the Philippines was robbed of a victory during their first meeting.
The two ring gladiators will square off on April 12 in a grudge rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the same place in June 2012 where Bradley posted a highly controversial 12-round split decision win over Pacquiao.
That stunning gift decision for Bradley ended Pacquiao’s amazing 15-fight winning streak, seizing the Filipino’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title that shocked the world. Later that year, Mexican counter-puncher Juan Manuel Marquez dealt Pacquiao a hellacious sixth-round knockout in their fourth fisticuff.
During the Bradley bout, judge Jerry Roth scored it 115-113 for Pacquiao, while C.J. Ross and Duane Ford both saw it 115-113 for Bradley, even though it appeared Pacquiao hurt Bradley throughout the fight particularly with his straight left hand.
The judges may have seen it differently, but post-fight punch statistics clearly showed that Pacquiao got the better of Bradley.
Compubox statistics showed that Pacquiao landed 190 of 493 power shots, compared to just 108 of 390 punches for Bradley, who won the fight on a split decision. Pacquiao landed a total of 253 of 751 punches, while Bradley was 159-of-839.
Robbed
Unless one is Bradley’s distant relative or somebody who owes the fighter a huge debt, the prevailing opinion then was that Pacquiao – a world champion in eight weight divisions and still regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world today along with another undefeated American fighter, Floyd Mayweather – was robbed of a decision victory. Bradley was literally harpooned by the critics in the boxing world.
After the fight, Pacquiao said he was surprised by Bradley’s strategy to avoid mixing up with him. Bradley said it really was his strategy to outfox the Filipino ring icon with combinations and defense.
This time, Bradley will convince his critics his victory over Pacquiao was no fluke.
Since winning over Pacquiao, the 30-year-old Bradley defended his welterweight title twice: a brutal brawl with Ruslan Provodnikov of Russia and a close decision over Marquez. Bradley is now 31-0 with 12 knockouts.
But Pacquiao has since rebounded from the Marquez misfortune looking fast, powerful and cunning as he outclassed Brandon Rios in November last year in Macau.
With his comeback win, Pacquiao improved his record to 55-5 with 38 knockouts. However, he remains knockout-less, his last stoppage victory coming in 2009 against Miguel Angel Cotto.
And now that with the flamboyant Mayweather seemingly satisfied with the cheap thrill he is getting from bashing Pacquiao in cyberspace, and with Marquez uninterested in a fifth showdown, Pacquiao’s best choice, indeed, as his next opponent is Bradley over another contender, Provodnikov, who used to be the Filipino’s former sparring partner.
The boxing world knows that Pacquiao has long been lobbying for a fight with Mayweather which is trumpeted to become the richest ever in boxing history. However, the unbeaten American five-division world champion is using endless excuses just to avoid him. At least this next fight for Pacquiao, now 35 years old, will keep a superfight with Mayweather alive. Obviously, Pacquiao can’t afford another devastating defeat to Bradley.
