On Saturday April 12, 2014 Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KOs) will challenge WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs) in Las Vegas, Nevada’s MGM Grand. I can’t stress enough that it is Manny Pacquiao who is challenging Timothy Bradley for the title and not the other way around. The reality is, Timothy is the underdog and Manny will walk into the ring with many benefits. If this fight goes the distance, the judges will favor Manny due to the pressures of their last fight in which Timothy won a controversial decision. Manny is the fighter who is guaranteed $20 million for this fight, whereas Timothy will earn a personal best of $6 million. Who is the champion again? Boxing is a complex industry, where champions don’t always make the most purses and don’t always receive the respect and honor that they have earned. Whether we think Timothy won their first fight or not, the truth is that Timothy is the champion and should be treated as one. The wicked side of boxing, which contains politics and greediness, prevents such honoring from happening and in turn, promotional companies, media, fans, judges, and boxing commissions will give more power to one fighter over another.
With that said, here are the predictions by the BMB Crew:
Rudy Mondragon
I recently read a piece on why we should boycott this fight. Although I agree with many of the points made by Matt McGrain, I still want to see this fight because of what it means for Timothy Bradley. Although Tim is the champion, he is viewed as the underdog and is being paid way less than Manny. Manny has paid his dues and has been a PPV fighter for years, so I get why he will earn more. This is important for Tim, however, because he still has something to prove and that further motivates him. What motivates Manny, other than trying to redeem the robbery that took place back in June of 2012? Mickey told Rocky in part III that he became civilized. These words apply to Manny because all the money and fame has led him to lose the grassroots aspect of his game as well as the eye of the tiger (Yes, I’m a huge fan of the Rocky Series). I’ll be real, Manny might be a compassionate person, but he is not compassionate in the ring. If he was really as compassionate as they claim, he would have left the sport a long time ago. Compassion is the mask Manny wears to hide the reality that he does not have real power at 147lbs. Timothy is riding high after beating Ruslan Provodnikov and dethroning Juan Manuel Marquez. He will enter the ring better, faster, stronger, wiser, and hungrier than the first time he faced Manny. I don’t see Tim winning by KO, but I do see him winning majority of the rounds to go on and win a convincingly unanimous decision. Timothy has added style and strategy to his repertoire. He learned from his slug fest with Provodnikov, and he executed a near perfect strategy to make Juan Manuel Marquez look silly and old. Combining these two fight strategies is what Tim will bring to the ring Saturday night. After this fight, we will say good bye to the possibilities of Mayweather-Pacquiao and will welcome talk to the possibilities of Bradley Mayweather. Get your shit straight Golden Boy Promos and Top Rank!
Timothy Bradley unanimous decision
Juan Santillán
A rematch of the 06/09/12 WBO Welterweight Title fight, Manny v Timothy is going to be a decent fight. I’m not falling for the hype, people saying that Manny is coming back hard to redeem himself. There are too many factors pinned against him. Yes, Manny did lose a very controversial fight to Bradley, and I’m sure he’s looking for some payback. However, in the interim, he lost to Marquez and has only gotten older and more distracted (politics, other controversies, etc). The Manny of old is gone and only shows up in flashes. I don’t expect to gain any popularity with the Pilipino community based on what I’ve just written, but it’s just the way I see it. Bradley is at his prime, dubbed a ‘technical fighter’, with some saying he’s the next Mayweather. I think that he is, at least in the sense of picking opponents. One clear example was refusing to fight Khan in order to keep his chances to face Manny alive. He was stripped of his title then, but not of the shot he would later ‘capitalize’ on when defeating Manny. He’s at a point in his career where he has too much to lose and little to gain on taking fights on a gamble. One way or another, I’m thinking controversial decision yet again, Bradley will win the fight.
Bradley by decision
Jarrett Bato
Manny and Roach have a tall order in proving that they have what it takes to hurt Bradley, who is coming in with 200% confidence after wars with Marquez and stable-mate Provodnikov.
Miguel Marino
In my view, there are three near certainties about this fight: 1) this will come down to a decision. No one is getting KOed in 12 rounds. 2) The winner will be tough to call. 3) 50% of America will be upset. Recent marquee fights have had a clear favorite. This Saturday’s fight is one of the rare fights where it is too close to call. Some will say that Pacquiao deserved to win the previous Bradley fight. Will that be on the thoughts of the judges? A delayed makeup call? Will Bradley try to prove himself as really having Pacquiao’s number? I’d say, sit back and just enjoy arguing with your friends about who won after 12 rounds. Don’t even dare count the punches and who won the rounds. This is out of our hands and 50% of us will disagree with the outcome. Go ahead and start drafting your twitter rants… because there will plenty to discuss. I’ve got my twitter post drafted now to post after the fight: “Let the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight chatter begin now. #Money #BMB #drunk”
Pacquiao split decision
Luke Givens
This promises to the first real challenge Pacquiao has faced since losing the split decision to Bradley in 2012 and getting ambien’d by Juan Manuel Marquez six months later. Pacquiao fought a masterful fight against Bradley the last time they fought. Technically, he didn’t do anything wrong but it’s debatable whether he did enough to win. That’s the point…it’s debatable. This time I don’t expect that to be the case. Pacquiao realizes it’s possible for him to lose by decision; something he didn’t know the last time the two fought. That means Pacquiao’s best chance of beating Bradley isn’t to outbox him. It’s not to knock him out…something he hasn’t done to an opponent since 2009. The 2009 Pacquiao was stronger, faster, and (most importantly) had never been knocked out. I don’t see an older, slower, weaker Pacquiao knocking out a beza like Timothy Bradley’s like he did Ricky Hatton’s. I also don’t see 2014 Pacquiao getting off clean shots like he did against Miguel Cotto.
Conversely, Bradley knows his opponent will come out aggressive and, given what happened the last time he attempted to exchange with an aggressive opponent (see Ruslan Provodnikov), I don’t see Bradley spending any considerable time playing tit-for-tat with Manny. Make no mistake, Bradley will fight. He’ll use better head movement and manage distance, but he wants people to know he beat Pacquiao the first time so he’s also got something to prove. It just means he’s going to listen to his corner and be careful not to get caught. On the other hand, if he decides not to listen to his corner and trade shots, we might see Paquiao get an exciting knockdown.
If Bradley listens, remains patient, and is able to weather an early storm by Pacquiao, I see him winning by unanimous decision. If he deviates from that plan in any way, Pacquiao just might find redemption in split decision victory. For my money…I’m taking Bradley.
Bradley unanimous decision
Mateo Banegas
Okay, okay. So, we’ve heard over and over about how Pacquiao needs to dig deep into his soul and bring back that killer instinct that made him the, arguably, number one stunner in boxing up until about two years ago. While I agree with this storyline to some extent, I disagree with other writers who have stated that Pacquiao’s recent win over Bam Bam Rios didn’t mean anything – largely because it was a one-sided win for Pacman. I think it was a huge win for Pacquiao’s self-esteem and, at least in my opinion, showed that his quickness and unorthodox punching ability is still intact.
Tim Bradley has been on a mission since his win over Pacquiao, having showed the boxing world that he can go toe-to-toe with super powerful Siberian Rocky and get a deserved win against future hall of famer, Juan Manuel Marquez. And more than anything, Bradley is the one who is hungry to validate his boxing value. Especially following the aftermath of the first Pacquiao fight. So, I think the momentum favors Bradley.
As far as the how the bout will go, Pacquiao will be much more active throughout the entire fight, trying to land those wily punches and keep Bradley off of his gameplan. Bradley, having gone through a full 12 rounds with Pacman once already, will be comfortable during this fight, landing enough jabs and strong power punches to win the points, while using the ring space. In the end, Bradley will win by split decision, again, with Manny swaying at least one of the judges.
It will be a great fight. All I can say is that I am happy the boxing season is back in full effect.
Bradley split decision
Ibrahim Rahman
This fight is a well anticipated and somewhat annoying event. Well anticipated because of the controversial decision in the first fight. It’s annoying because it’s Tim Bradley rather than Floyd Mayweather. The boxing media has its way of always making stories more significant than they actually are. When one fighter beats another fighter, then a third fighter emerges and beats the original victor, it then makes people think that the 3rd fighter can actually beat the defeated fighter in the first fight. In this confusing case, Manny got KTFO’d by Marquez. (KTFO = Knocked The F*** Out) Bradley then easily beats a slower Marquez. Since this happened then many come to the natural conclusion that Timothy Bradley will beat Manny in this second fight. Although Manny clearly beat Timothy Bradley 2 years ago, the question remains, is Manny back to the old Manny or is he over the hill and washed up? My answer is no. However, Manny must knock out Tim Bradley.
If the fight goes the distance, then Bradley may win in a controversial split decision, again. Bradley will make an attempt to look busy with soft hitting flurries to win rounds. If Manny allows this and does not counter or use the stiff left, then he may be in for a long fight. I believe Manny will be much busier this fight and will attempt to beat the snot out of Bradley. He will utilize his power and speed which will deter Bradley from coming in. We must also consider a cut in this fight, as Bradley is known for having a hard head and there may be an accidental or purposeful head butt in this fight.
Manny by TKO 8th or 10th round
blood money boxing 