Click here to Watch Boxing live >>>> Timothy Bradley vs Manny Pacquiao
Schedule of fight card
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Las Vegas (HBO PPV)
Tim Bradley (No. 1, P4P No. 3) vs. Manny Pacquiao (No. 3, P4P No. 7)
12 rounds – Welterweight division (for Bradley's WBO title)
12 rounds – Welterweight division (for Bradley's WBO title)
Raymundo Beltran (No. 4) vs. Roman Martinez
12 rounds – Lightweight division
12 rounds – Lightweight division
Khabib Allakhverdiev (No. 7) vs. Jessie Vargas
12 rounds – Junior welterweight division
12 rounds – Junior welterweight division
Bryan Vasquez vs. Jose Felix Jr.
12 rounds – Junior lightweight division
12 rounds – Junior lightweight division
Sean Monaghan vs. Joe McCreedy
10 rounds – Light heavyweight division
10 rounds – Light heavyweight division
Esbjerg, Denmark
Erik Skoglund vs. Danilo D'Agata
12 rounds – Super middleweight division
12 rounds – Super middleweight division
David Price vs. Ondrej Pala
8 rounds – Heavyweight division
8 rounds – Heavyweight division
Bonn, Germany
Manuel Charr vs. Kevin Johnson
12 rounds – Heavyweight division
12 rounds – Heavyweight division
London
Bradley Skeete vs. Tobia Loriga
12 rounds – Welterweight division
12 rounds – Welterweight division
Tony Conquest vs. Carl Dilks
12 rounds – Cruiserweight division
12 rounds – Cruiserweight division
Frank Buglioni vs. Sergey Khomitsky
12 rounds – Super middleweight division
12 rounds – Super middleweight division
Eddie Chambers vs. Ian Lewison
8 rounds – Heavyweight division
8 rounds – Heavyweight division
On April 12 at the MGM in Vegas, Manny Pacquiao takes on Timothy
Bradley in a rematch from a highly-controversial bout in 2012 where
Bradley was undeservedly given a 12-round split decision over Pacquiao.
In most people’s minds, it wasn’t even close. But in light of Pacquiao
subsequently getting knocked out cold by rival Juan Manuel Marquez, in
conjunction with Bradley’s recent work, which includes a win over the
same Marquez, this rematch is palatable.
- Date: April 12, 2014
- Site: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Weight Class: Welterweights--12 Rounds
Manny Pacquiao, 55-5-2 (38 KOs), General Santos City
VS.
Timothy Bradley, 31-0 (12 KOs), Palm Springs, California
There may be some gap in perceived and actual reality with these
fighters. The thought is that Pacquiao is on the decline, which could
provide an alley for Bradley to exploit. But can he? Other than a
stoppage over an ancient and played-out Joel Casamayor, Bradley hasn’t
stopped anyone in 7 years. And at welterweight poundage, he can barely
crack an egg, despite a Hagler-esque physique that would suggest
punching power.
Combine that with Pacquiao being enlivened for the final act of his
Hall of Fame career, Bradley can’t rely on the depreciation of Pacquiao
to bridge the gap in talent that everyone besides two judges perceived
nearly two years ago in their first fight. Has Pacquiao deteriorated a
bit physically and has the good life stripped him of some of the killer
instinct that characterized his prime? Sure. Look for him to compensate
for that with the extra spark of energy he will get from both the light
at the end of the tunnel now being visible and with the urgency that
stems from being in a zero-margin-for-error mode.
Bradley doesn’t have the power to exploit Pacquiao’s chin. If he
lands the perfect shot, anything can happen, but it’s far from a
bankable possibility. While aging boxers who get knocked out cold tend
to suffer some residual damage, it’s unclear that getting knocked out
once in 13 years while facing the opposition Pacquiao has faced is any
kind of disgrace or indication of weakness. In a weird way, it’s
admirable he got through almost 40 rounds of tangling with a master like
Marquez before something really bad happened.
Knowing a loss likely spells the end, Pacquiao should approach this
fight in a better frame of mind than when they first met in 2012.
Following such a long and dominant run, Pacquiao had flattened out by
2012--sort of aimlessly meandering through his career without a
compelling or spelled-out exit plan in place. Expect a more mentally
focused version of Pacquiao in this fight.
Bradley is a guy who is easy to overlook and that could be a mistake.
His 2013 body of work is a testament to his quality. He first showed
his mettle and fighting spirit in braving a Ruslan Provodnikov storm,
before outwitting the Mexican master Marquez. A lot of what Bradley does
well, including what he managed to accomplish in the first fight, gets
overlooked. Other than the Provodnikov fight, his bouts aren’t much fun
to watch typically and even stretches of the Provodnikov battle were
tedious.
Bradley’s bouts lack a lot of elements that make for what we know to
be good fights. There is a certain aimlessness to his performances. But
he wins. This isn’t pro wrestling where the most entertaining performers
are also the best performers. Boring wins in boxing. Uneven and
visually unappealing showings don’t equate to low placement on the
pecking order. At the end of the day, Bradley is unquestionably an elite
fighter with a track record to prove it.
Throw into the mix that “Desert Storm” is chomping at the bit to
atone for the backlash following his gift win over Pacman and you can
expect to see a vintage Bradley on April 12. At face value, one wouldn’t
normally expect the recipient of the BS decision to be the one with the
bigger axe to grind. Following the fight, Bradley became an unwitting
pariah. He has a lot of emotional issues stemming from that and is
ultra-committed to the task of winning this fight decisively.
Both men are at points in their careers with surrounding
circumstances that should be conducive for a good fight. We’ve already
seen 12 rounds of this already and its watchability was marginal at
best. This should be better. The story-lines were minimal the first
time, but now we have an abundance of wrinkles and quirks leading into
this fight. It’s not an easy fight in which to get a read.