Bradley Vs Pacquiao
 | For ordinary men, having a goal to be in the same ring with the
eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and
actually fight him is a tall order. But Bradley is not an ordinary man.
He has set his goals on fighting someone of Pacquiao's caliber years
before.
"Like I said, I want to fight all the best fighters in the world pound for pound. Whether it's Manny Pacquiao or Marquez, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Amir Khan. Whoever!" Bradley was quoted as saying before. At 28 years old, Bradley is undefeated and currently holds the WBO Light Welterweight title. He is considered the top 140-pound fighter in the world and, true to his statement, has worked his way to earn the right to fight Pacquiao. While considered a legitimate threat to Pacquiao, some would note, quite arguably, that he is not incredibly fast with his hands. Pacquiao's age meanwhile has not slowed down the punch at his age of 33. Bradley will have to fight inside that ring using his head. That is, he would need to have his thinking cap on all throughout the bout. He admits the Filipino champion is strong, has a great punch and is in great condition. So for this fight to at least go the stretch without Bradley being knocked out, he has to bank on his ring IQ. His last two bouts were with southpaws, Casamayor and Alexander. He left the ring in both instances victorious and maintaining his 0 loss card. With the opposite stance of the two fighters, concerns have been raised about Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley's tendency to lead with the head. Michael Koncz, a Pacquiao adviser, fears the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley fight could get messy in the ring with a right-hander like Bradley and a lefty Pacquiao. "My only concern is he comes in with his head and when you have a left-hander against a right-hander head butts happen even more," Koncz explains during the latter part of negotiations for the game. Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, although voicing the same concern, thinks he has this covered. "I think he will come forward with his head first and so forth, but I think I have that covered with Manny," he said confidently. For Bradley to keep the Pacman at bay, he would need to take Manny's awesome punches away from him. Some observers believe that Pacquiao's fight against Juan Manuel Marquez is a template for neutralizing Pacman. A devastating left from the southpaw Pacquiao can be prevented by stepping in the opposite direction and put Pacquiao in search of a better position to land a punch. This opens up opportunity to get off first with punches that land in the middle. While Marquez was not fortunate to defeat Pacquiao, observers note that Marquez was successful using this tack in their November 2011 bout, enough to stay away from the canvas. Marquez's counter punching and footwork also proved to be a struggle for the champ. Having said this, it will be interesting if this will be the strategy for Bradley or he has something else in mind. We are, however, expecting an intelligent bout during the Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley match up. With Pacquiao coming off the heels of his Marquez fight and Bradley admitting one has to think more when you're in the ring with Pacquiao, then we don't have to worry when we ask "Who'll use his head better?" Bradley Vs Pacquiao |
