Here’s the Real Skinny – Pacman Must Go Beyond Bradley’s 1st Move

Here's the Real Skinny - Pacman Must Go Beyond Bradley's 1st Move

Boxing writers and analyst base their predictions for tonight’s rematch on the first fight and subsequent fights. As true with all prognosticators, they manipulate the facts to support their pick, not unlike students writing a position paper. They don’t lie, but they often times emphasize something beyond its real importance. Their goal is to make a persuasive, logical argument that if A is true, then it follows B must be true as well.

As a result, we end up with two seemingly valid arguments. Which one is correct. Or, are both correct? Fans of either fighter have no problem lining up with their fighter’s side. They obviously don’t need much convincing. But, what about the group that has not been influenced by personal feelings? They look at what’s been said, and are confused, because both sides have provided relevant points.

read more

Will Bradley Lose Even if He Deserves to Win Pacquiao Rematch?

Will Bradley Lose Even if He Deserves to Win Pacquiao Rematch?

Timothy Bradley and Manny Pacquiao didn’t exactly put on a spectacular show the first time they fought. It was a pretty boring fight actually, and it followed the same predictably dull pattern round after round for the most part. Bradley would typically out hustle Pacquiao for the first 2 minutes of a round, before Pacquiao finished strongly over the last minute. The Filipino generally landed enough crippling lefts that he was winning the rounds, despite looking unusually lethargic during the early portions of most rounds. Nothing particularly exciting happened at any point during the fight, though.

Even though Pacquiao seemed to do enough to comfortably win, the judges saw differently and awarded it to Bradley. Everyone was amazed by the outcome. Fans were shocked, Pacquiao was perplexed, the commentators were annoyed, Freddie Roach was perturbed, Bob Arum was outraged, and even Bradley himself seemed surprised beyond words, with an expression that more closely resembled that of a big money lottery winner than of one who believed he earned a deserved victory. By most accounts this was viewed as a “robbery”, some going so far to call it one of the worst in history.

read more

Timothy Bradley Interview Transcript

Timothy Bradley Interview Transcript

BOB ARUM: Thanks, everyone for getting on the call and before we start the call we are going to give everyone a real treat. We are going to play the song called “Champion,” performed by the famous Fashawn. He will sing that song leading Tim Bradley out of the dressing room April 12, on the night of the big fight. So without further adieu, let’s play the new his song, for the first time anywhere… (listen to :20 of the Tim Bradley’s walk-out music. Entire recording is attached)

TIMOTHY BRADLEY: Training camp is going great. Are you guys ready for this?! April 12 is going to be a great night for everyone involved on HBO Pay-Per-View.

read more

Floyd Sr: Pacquiao could beat Bradley this time

pac554455Manny Pacquiao and his team still haven’t announced who his next opponent will be for his April 12th fight, but it’s assumed that WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley will be the one facing him, as long as he doesn’t price himself out of the fight by asking beyond what Top Rank is willing to give him to be the B-side.

Floyd Mayweather Sr. says he was really impressed with what he saw of Pacquiao in his win over Brandon Rios last November, and based on that fight he feels that Pacquiao could be too much for Bradley in a rematch. Floyd Sr. thought the previous Pacquiao-Bradley fight was one that could have gone either way. He didn’t think Bradley clearly won it or Pacquiao.

read more

Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley II: Is It a Make It or Break it Fight?

pac#6 - CopyFor Manny Pacquiao, despite his phenomenal popularity and status in the sport of boxing, the road back to the top, will be much harder and longer than for any other currently in the sport.

Winning a fight is a good step forward, but it’s getting the nod from the fans that might take more effort than most assume.

Believe it or not, but I would bet that his knockout loss to Marquez has probably affected Pacquiao in the most minimalistic fashion. Not only did he hold victories against Marquez before he lost, but Dinamita is an established world class champion with unbelievable technical boxing ability and heart.

read more

Bradley and Provodnikov still front runners for Pacquiao’s April fight, says Arum

bradley777Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum hasn’t changed his mind about his desire to have Pacquiao fight either Tim Bradley or Ruslan Provodnikov in his next fight on April 12th. The only change that Arum has made is he’s stopped mentioning 40-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez as one of three candidates for the fight because of Marquez repeatedly saying that he doesn’t have any interest in ever facing Pacquiao again after having fought him 4 times.

“The two guys that are the front runners are Tim Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov,” Arum said.

Arum’s not concerned about Pacquiao drawing low numbers in facing these guys, because he sees the disappointing numbers from Pacquiao’s last fight against Brandon Rios being because the fight took place in Macao, China and not in the U.S.

read more

Timothy Bradley Warns Rios About Pacquaio: “He Is Very Difficult To Hit”

rios777The most difficult part for Brandon Rios in facing Manny Pacquiao, is not the physical or even psychological portion of it all, but the significant difference in Pacquiao versus any other opponent that Rios has ever faced. The unexpected surprise that Rios might encounter during the fight, the revelation that Pacquiao is significantly faster and stronger than team Rios had anticipated, may force Rios to abandon any fight plan, and try to swing hard in hopes of landing a “Marquez” punch.

Timothy Bradley, the first man in a long time to claim a victory over Pacquiao, suggests that Pacquiao is very hard to land on, and that Rios needs to be ready to deal with frustration:

read more

A Win Without Fighting

bradley13Timothy Bradley was not the only fighter to receive a boost from his victory of the great Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night. In an indirect, but very real way, Manny Pacquiao also benefited from the outcome of the fight.

Marquez is Pacquiao’s biggest rival, and the man against whom he shall be most often judged. Fighters are measured against their greatest opponents. But the analysis does not end with a simple stat listing what the two men have done against each other. Evander Holyfield lost his trilogy to Riddick Bowe. When their careers are seen in the bigger picture, however, Holyfield is a clear Hall-of-Famer, while Bowe is thought of as a very good fighter who had held the title.

read more

Is Timothy Bradley as good as we thought he was?

bradley14by Robert Jackson – The title of this article has got to be the question that everyone is asking around the water cooler today. Bradley went ‘tooth and nail’ against a fighter who everyone expected him to easily outbox, at times almost getting KO’d. The Russian,…Provodnikov with limited boxing skills, had never in his 6 year career faced an opponent of Bradley’s stature and was chosen as a walkover/tuneup for Bradley who’s looking for more lucrative fights. Having fought most of his career as a Jr welterweight Provodnikov stepped up to the 147lb class to face WBO champion Bradley.

If you were to look at Provodnikov’s boxing resume there are no elite fighters to speak of prior to facing Bradley, expecting most – prior to the fight to disbelieve him able to put the beating on Bradley that he did Saturday nite.

read more

Finally: Timothy Bradley Gets A Post-Pacquiao Opponent – Will Face Russian Slugger Ruslan Provodnikov In March

provodnikov324By James Slater – Though some fans were a little turned off by unbeaten pound-for-pounder Timothy Bradley after his hugely controversial points win over superstar Manny Pacquiao – most people referring to the June 2012 split decision as a blatant robbery – the subsequent time spent out of the ring by “Desert Storm” has been unfortunate. Some fans seem to feel Bradley, 29-0(12) should have raised his hands after June 9th last year, and admitted he didn’t really defeat Pac-Man, but of course he didn’t and who can be surprised by this (have you EVER known a winning fighter confess that he didn’t deserve the victory he was awarded)?

But despite the perceived lack of sportsmanship on the part of Bradley, he is too good a fighter to have been out of action for almost a year. The good news is Bradley has an opponent all sorted out; the not so great news is the guy the WBO welterweight champ will defend against on March 16th on HBO. After the “win” over Pacquiao, it was thought the Palm Springs man would get further mega-fights. Instead, Bradley will face crude (but hugely exciting) Russian light-welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov. The 29-year-old (the same age as Bradley) from Beryozovo will move up in weight and go after Bradley’s belt at The Home Depot Centre.

read more