As we all know Manny Pacquiao will enter into battle June 9th, 2012 against welterweight up and comer Timothy Bradley. In the pre-fight hype and predictions for this upcoming bout there has been much speculation that this is going to be the night Manny Pacquiao is exposed as being past his prime, on the decline, and to many prove that his success has been a product of careful selection of his opponents. Many feel that Pacquiao even lost his most recent fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, and that this fight was a sure sign of Pacquiao's decline. Pundits left and right point to his last slew of fights picking apart the competition he has faced citing catch-weights, fighters being past their primes, coming off of loses, etc.... as reasons why Pacquiao has been able to sustain his success. Let's just say all of that is true for the sake of argument. Coming into this fight there will be none of the above excuses to point to. This fight is not taking place at a catch-weight, Bradley is coming in undefeated, obviously in his prime, there have been no reports of illness or injury from his camp, and apparently he has the game plan constructed to beat Pacquiao. But what if none of that matters? What if Pacquiao still goes out there, out-works his opponent, out points him, out boxes him, or even knocks him out? What will be the next excuse from Pacquiao Pundits to illegitimize his victory? What will they say after that? Will it be "Bradley's never fought on that grand of a stage, and he succumbed to the pressure"? Taking away the credit from Pacquiao. Will it be another accusation of PED use? Will we hear "It wasn't Mayweather"? Or will the very same people building up Timothy Bradley as the conqueror of Manny Pacquiao suddenly backpedal and start to downplay his ability to further discredit the Manny Pacquiao ? Suddenly he will be a guy who was way in over his head and never fought anybody that really prepared him for this challenge, after those same people tried to paint him as this ultimate challenger that would expose "the little guy". I think the answer really is, that there will be no excuses, and those who wish to take as much away from the accomplishments of Manny Pacquiao will have to sit down, shut up, and admit that he won fair and square, no advantages other than those brought by his own physical abilities and boxing acumen. Will that stop them? I doubt it. So, what do you think the next excuse will be?
Next excuse: Bradley is a feather fisted come forward fighter who will leave to many openings for Manny’s combinations and awkward angles. Bradley is made to order for pac. Also: Bradley has been on the bench for a while, with only a fight a gets the old, shot, weed head: Joel Casamayor.
timmy is made to order. but the dude can box. i wonder which one shows up? if he was smart, he would box pac. but, we'll see
People will probably say Manny looked bad at times, which he could, but because Bradley is highly skilled. He doesn't fit the bill of opponents his critics bash him for so often. He's aggressive, but he's quick, calculated, fundamentally sound, and can move.
This is pretty much the case. Its kinda like when PBF fought Ortrees (not as skilled as Timmy but he was young, aggressive and could crack) . . . critics are always gonna bash them no matter what. The critic for most fighters who reach their level is that they are fighting any challenges but when you are that good who really is there to challenge you in your weight class (besides each other). PBF and Pac will have their detractors even if the ever did face each other.
styles make fights. one guys cup of tea is another fighters nightmare. ali beat foreman who beat frazier. ali struggled with frazier who foreman easily creemed twice
There is no excuse. All Pacquiao has to do is win. Bradley is a very capable fighter, and beating him would be a very good win for Pacquiao.
I think Bradley is a live opponent in that his style can mesh well against Pac. That being said, the difference in the quality of opposition that both boxers have faced will be the difference in this fight. In short, Pac is simply on a different league. Tim will have his moments for sure, but once it goes the distance, I have Pac overwhelming or making Tim run for his lfe. As far as the haters are concerned, much of them have already expressed that they will respect Pac is he does beat Timmy fair and square. I guess that means TR did put Pac against a better opposition this time.
As we all know Manny Pacquiao will enter into battle June 9th, 2012 against welterweight up and comer Timothy Bradley An up and comer in a division he's never fought in before..
