Pacquiao defeats Bradley in the rematch. Do all roads lead to a Pacquiao v Bradley 3?
Manny Pacquiao avenged his controversial 2012 defeat to score a comprehensive, but hard-fought 116-112, 116-112, 118-111 points victory over Timothy Bradley to regain the WBO world welterweight title.
In what was an entertaining fight that at times threatened to break into an all out slug fest but didn’t quite get there. Pacquiao’s work rate, volume of accurate punches and more accomplished strikes is what won him the fight in the end.
For me, and very bizarrely, Bradley’s tactic of trying to knock Pacquiao out is what actually lost him the fight. Too often Bradley was winding up with big shots, while allowing Pacquiao to sneak in two of three punches.
Personally, I thought this rematch went much like their first fight, the only difference was the controversial decision in the first fight.
I do however feel after his first victory over Pacquiao, combined with his victory over Marquez and still being undefeated. Bradley was a bit too over-confident which was his downfall.
I mean, talking about looking for the knockout to make it decisive after his controversial win in their first fight, I thought was just gamesmanship. But Bradley, especially in the early stages was actually looking for the knockout.
Bradley has had 33 wins, in those wins he has scored only 12 knockouts. To add to this, he has only scored ONE stoppage victory in his last 13 outings.
So to adopt a tactic of trying to knock Manny out, regardless of what Marquez did was being a bit too big for his boots and caused him his undefeated record.
I will give Bradley credit for the way he fought though. He was relentless in coming forward looking for that knockout and did catch Pacman, once even lifting him off his feet which the Filipino took well.
You could see why he has the nick name “Desert Storm” as he hardly took a back step. That was until the middle rounds when Pacquiao’s class showed as the Filipino began to put eye-catching combinations together.
After the defeat Bradley did say he pulled a muscle in his calf which no doubt affected his performance.
I do remember him in the corner after about the fourth or fifth round say “I’m hurting” but for me, the way Pacquiao performed I doubt the result would have been any different had that not happened.
I wouldn’t say Pacquiao was back to his blistering best but he was definitely more aggressive in this fight, giving more angles and consistently beating Bradley to the punch.
Where as in the first fight he coasted through the later stages, in this fight he picked up the pace late on and pushed the pace.
In the end he deserved the win, much like he deserved to win the first fight for me but this one was more decisive. So what next for both fighters?
It annoys me when they put Mayweather in the equation, although I would love to see Floyd fight both Pacman and Bradley, they are both Bob Arum fighters. The chances of them fighting are very slim.
Floyd is his own man so can fight whoever he wants. Top rank fighters have to adhere to what Bob Arum says. Arum and Mayweather have never seen eye to eye since Mayweather split from Arum and went on his own to become this multi-billionaire.
With that being said, we all know Pacman and Arum are partial to a rematch or trilogy (Marquez 4 fights, Morales 3 fights, Barrera 2 fights).
To be honest, after the Rios fight and the constant talk of the Mayweather fight, there are not many exciting fights out there.
Combine that with Bradley’s frivolous claims in trying to justify him winning their first fight and then claiming he pulled a calf muscles in this rematch.
With them both being Bob Arum fighters, I can’t see anything else but a deciding rubber match between the two, probably early 2015.
If that does happen I actually think because of what happened in these two fights it will be the best and most exciting fight of the lot. I am already looking forward to it.
