SONAHR: April 6, 2014 – When Timothy Bradley and Manny Pacquiao step into the squared circle at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on April 12, both fighters will be looking for more than victory in their clash for Bradley?s WBO welterweight title. Bradley will be seeking redemption. Pacquiao will be seeking revenge.
This will be the second encounter between these two, both of whom are in The Ring magazine?s Pound-for-Pound Top 10. Their first contest, back on April 9, 2012, saw the undefeated Bradley score a split decision over Pacquiao, and grab the Filipino?s title in the process. That verdict resulted in controversy that recalled the vehement reaction to Sugar Ray Leonard?s upset win over Marvin Hagler back in 1987. The difference is that opinion on the Leonard-Hagler decision was more or less split down the middle, while a majority of those who observed Pacquiao-Bradley believed Manny had earned the verdict.
Bradley did the fighting, not the judging. Even so, he was the one who bore the brunt of the scorn from those who thought Pacquiao had been robbed. What could have been the signature win of Bradley?s career turned into a millstone that weighed him down. Showing admirable strength of character, Bradley shrugged off the criticism and went on to win his next two fights. The first was a thrill-a-minute war against Ruslan Provodnikov. In the second, Bradley conducted a master clinic in boxing against Juan Manuel Marquez, who was coming off a spectacular one-punch knockout of none other than Pacquiao.
Those wins ? especially his gutsy performance against Provodnikov ? earned Bradley respect even from some of the people who had been disgusted by the verdict in the Pacquiao fight. However, true redemption for the undefeated Bradley can only come with a clear-cut, undisputable win over Pacquiao. That will be his primary motive going into his rematch with Manny.
Pacquiao?s purpose is revenge. It?s nothing personal ? he has treated Bradley with courtesy even though he disagreed with the decision in their first fight. However, Bradley was the one who knocked Pacquiao off his perch as the top pound-for-pound fighter, a position he had traded back and forth with Floyd Mayweather Jr. for several years. That had to be a bitter pill for even the affable Pacquiao to swallow. Like Bradley, Pacquiao needs a definitive victory to exorcize the ghosts of their first fight.
Can the Pacman do it? Well, things didn?t look so great for him when Marquez flattened him in his next fight after the Bradley mess. After a layoff that lasted more than a year, Pacquiao came back to score an easy decision over the capable Brandon Rios ? a sign that Pacquiao has recovered from his setbacks of 2012. Rios, however, is a cut below Bradley?s last two opponents, Provodnikov and Marquez, and was not indicative of how Manny might do against the man nicknamed ?Desert Storm.?
Regardless of the effects of his grueling battle against Provodnikov and the demands involved in outboxing Marquez, though, Bradley is still a fighter in his prime. Pacquiao is, even if only slightly, on the downslide from his peak. That will probably prove the difference in Pacquiao-Bradley II, with Bradley winning another close decision.
At least, that?s what conventional wisdom tells me. But if Pacquiao can turn back the clock and utilize his once-signature volume punching to offset his opponent?s dazzling speed, then the Pacman will have gained his revenge, and the ?0? in Bradley?s loss column that some believe is unjust will be history.
If Leonard and Hagler had ever fought a rematch, its circumstances would probably have been something like those surrounding the showdown coming up on April 12.
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His award-winning novel, Damballa, which centers around a fictional heavyweight title bout, is available at Amazon.com.
