Pacquiao’s real threat is Bradley, not Mayweather

Pacquiao’s real threat is Bradley, not Mayweather

By Alex P. Vidal

HOLLYWOOD, California – When Manny Pacquiao was 28, the age today of Timothy Ray Bradley Jr., he was so destructive in scoring back to back disposal wins over Erik “El Terrible” Morales in the last two collisions of their trilogy.

Then 30-year old Morales succumbed via TKO in the 10^th round of the 12-round WBC international super featherweight championship at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on Jan. 21, 2006 in his rematch with Pacquiao.

In the same venue on Nov. 18, 2006, Pacquiao made sure Morales’ trip back to Mexico was expedited by finishing him off in the third canto with a brutal assault at 2 minutes and 57 seconds. When referee Vic Drakulich stopped the carnage, Pacquiao was leading comfortably in the scorecards of the three judges Guido Cavalleri, Glenn Trowbridge, and Duane Ford.

The twin victories avenged Pacquiao’s embarrassing defeat to Morales, his only loss in the United States, on March 19, 2005 where the hard-hitting Mexican legend scored a 12-round unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to annex the International Boxing Association (IBA) super featherweight title

STOPOVER

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In between the last two fights against Morales, then 28-year-old Pacquiao made a Manila stopover on July 2, 2006 to dismantle then 30-year-old Oscar Larios to keep his crown.

Pacquiao has never yielded a single match in the United States since his debacle in the first duel with Morales.

At 33, Pacquiao (54-3, 38 KOs) is five years senior when he goes up the ring to defend his WBO 147-lb belt against 28-year-old Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs) who is in the prime of his career.

Mocked for his lackluster majority decision win in the last of his trilogy against Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12, 2011, Pacquiao is favored to roll past the black American dynamo nicknamed “The Desert Storm” in preparation for his off-and-on duel with newly crowned WBA junior middleweight ruler Floyd Mayweather Jr. who recently toppled Miguel Angel Cotto via 12-round unanimous decision win in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao is now in the twilight of his career and has told reporters in Manila Bradley would be his last opponent after he was allegedly told by God in a dream it was time to wrap us his fistic career and abandon his vices.  

Months leading to his June 9 fight against Bradley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Pacquiao spent his time in Bible study and attending to his responsibilities as product endorser and member of the House of Representatives representing the lone district of Saranggani Province in Mindanao.

BUSY  

Bradley, on the other hand, was busy revving up under the tutelage of his trainer former lightweight contender Joel Diaz and father Timothy Sr. Some experts consider him “more dangerous than Mayweather because of his age and hunger for recognition.”

“I’m just so happy. I’m so excited. Everything was looking down, looking down, and boom. Now everything is starting to look up,” Bradley Jr. told The Desert Sun shortly after he signed a promotional contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Inc. September last year. “My main objective was to get a promoter to build the Bradley brand, and Top Rank is good at doing that. That’s why we chose Top Rank.”

With consistently impressive performances and decisive wins in recent fights, most observers now consider Bradley to be the top 140-pounder in the world. He and Pacquiao will dispute the lawmaker-cum-boxer’s WBO welterweight crown.

Bradley is coming off an 8^th round TKO win in a 12-round WBO junior welterweight title fight against Joel Casamayor in the main aperitif of the Pacquiao-Marquez III on Nov. 12, 2011. Prior to torturing Casamayor, Bradley defeated previously unbeaten WBC world champion Devon Alexander on January 29, 2011.

TENACIOUS

“Bradley once again showed he is one of the strongest-willed, most doggedly determined and tenacious fighters in the business as well as being a pocket-Hercules type physically,” wrote Fightwriter.com’s Graham Houston.

“He did what I like to see a fighter do, which is to come out ready to fight from the opening bell and let the other man know immediately that he had better be ready for a long, hard night. Bradley has boxing ability, but he was simply too much fighter for the supposedly more highly skilled Alexander. The strategy was simple but effective: Don’t let Alexander get settled, fire right hand get rough with him, keep him thinking defensively.”

Meanwhile, although Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs) dethroned WBA super welterweight world champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KOs) by twelve round unanimous decision (117-111, 117-111, 118-110)  on May 5 night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, some observers believe he is less dangerous to Pacquiao compared to Bradley

Mayweather had the edge in most rounds over the first six rounds, but Cotto had his moments and was determined to take the fight to Mayweather and bloodied his nose early on. Big round eight for Cotto who went all out for the KO, but after that Mayweather took control, staggering Cotto in the final stanza.

A win over Bradley will oblige Pacquiao to fight Mayweather. Afterall, Mayweather has already declared he would next face Pacquiao after tackling Cotto. “Pacquiao needs Mayweather more than Mayweather needs Pacquiao,” Mayweather recently told CNN.