Looks like Pacman vs Bradley 9th June

Article on ESPN:

Before Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced Wednesday that he will fight Miguel Cotto on May 5, both of them were discussed as potential opponents for Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao-Mayweather looms as the biggest fight in boxing -- if it ever happens -- and a Pacquiao-Cotto rematch of their 2009 blockbuster would surely have generated heat.

But with Mayweather and Cotto now set to meet for Cotto's junior middleweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, both of them officially came off the board for Pacquiao, who instead is moving closer to a fight with junior welterweight titleholder Timothy Bradley Jr.

Pacquiao will fight June 9, also at the MGM Grand, and Top Rank stablemate Bradley is sitting in the lead position.

"We're discussing the fight with both parties," Top Rank president Todd duBoef told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "We're in the process of having the conversations with (Bradley manager) Cameron (Dunkin) and we're also having them with the Pacquiao team. It's a very active dialogue."

Bradley would move up in weight to challenge Pacquiao for his version of the welterweight title. After leaving co-promoters Gary Shaw and Ken Thompson -- a case that is still in litigation -- Bradley signed last year with Top Rank with the understanding that, although not a contractual commitment, he would be in the running to face Pacquiao.

When Top Rank boss Bob Arum visited Pacquiao recently in the Philippines, he went there to discuss four potential opponents other than Mayweather -- Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez (for a fourth fight), junior welterweight titlist Lamont Peterson and Bradley.

Arum is also trying to put together a Peterson-Marquez fight, leaving Bradley as the likely opponent for Pacquiao."We've had discussions about Bradley," Michael Koncz, Pacquiao's adviser, told ESPN.com. "But we have not agreed to take that fight yet. I had told Bob a few weeks ago not to finalize anything (with Marquez and Peterson) until you've satisfied Manny and we finalize something."

Koncz said he was traveling to San Antonio on Friday to meet with Arum, who is promoting Saturday night's Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Marco Antonio Rubio middleweight title bout there.

"I'm going to meet with Bob to discuss not only Bradley but also Marquez and Peterson because now I have to determine what is the best for Manny style-wise and also in terms of economics now that there isn't a fight with Mayweather or Cotto," Koncz said. "The majority of our discussions have been about Bradley. We have not committed to Bradley from our side, but now I need to explore the other options because of what happened (Wednesday) with Mayweather announcing that he's fighting Cotto."

Koncz said he was disappointed the fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather was not made. He also thought they would have been able to make the Cotto rematch.

Koncz said he and Mayweather had talked regularly about making the fight with Pacquiao over the past couple of months. Koncz even put them on the phone together at one point at Mayweather's request.

Koncz said last week, with the approval of Arum and Pacquiao, he offered Mayweather a guaranteed $50 million to fight Pacquiao in May with the revenue to be divided 55-45 with the lion's share going to the winner of the fight. Mayweather has said he demanded the lion's share of the money.

"I've been talking to Floyd directly and I made a commitment to keep it out of the media, but with him saying all the things that he's been saying -- that Manny ducked the fight, that Manny is only a $10 million fighter, I am compelled to talk to the media and say what really happened," he said. "We had our deal with Arum. Both fighters were going to be guaranteed $50 million. Arum had agreed to that. The other thing was when Manny instructed me to reach out to Floyd, I informed Floyd at that time (about two months ago) that there were no more issues with blood testing. Manny agreed to everything, whenever anyone wanted, except on the day of the fight. Floyd said, 'Ok, that's great.' My discussions with Floyd were cordial, professional and during our discussions we both treated each other with the utmost respect. We didn't agree on a lot of things, but we were respectful. He has my number and he can call me any time and hopefully we can do this fight in November."

Drug-testing protocol had long been one of the hang-ups in previous discussions for the fight.

Koncz admitted he was a little surprised when Mayweather-Cotto was announced.

"We anticipated Mayweather would be off the table. I didn't expect Cotto would be," he said. "I thought he was playing hardball over the weight issue. Cotto wouldn't agree to come below 150 pounds. We wanted 147. Had he said 148? We probably could have gotten that done."

Koncz said one concern about a fight with Bradley is his tendency to lead with his head, a situation that could be exacerbated because of how sloppy fights can be between a right-hander such as Bradley and a lefty like Pacquiao.

"I've watched a couple of Bradley's fights and he's a skilled fighter but my only concern is he has comes in with his head and when have a left-hander against a right-hander head butts happen even more."

Whatever direction Pacquiao ultimately takes, Koncz said a deal will be done for Pacquiao's next opponent imminently.

"I'm confident that Bob and I will, with Manny's approval, have a deal in place by Sunday," Koncz said.

Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs), 28, of Palm Springs, Calif., comes to the party with a low profile, despite being an undefeated titleholder. He won a head butt-induced 10th-round technical decision against Devon Alexander 13 months ago, then rejected a unification fight with Amir Khan and sat out for several months while dealing with the lawsuit with his former promoters.

After signing with Top Rank, he fought on Pacquiao's Nov. 12 undercard, stopping long-faded former lightweight champion Joel Casamayor in the eighth-round of a sloppy fight.

But Bradley is in his prime, fast and experienced against good opponents. He could give Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs), 33, problems.

"I think it's a very interesting fight. Bradley is a really good boxer, very skilled in the 140-pound division," duBoef said. "Manny is a small welterweight and the guys match up really well. It's a really solid fight. Our job as promoters is to get people to know Bradley. "We can't do anything about where he was for the last coupe of years and how he was presented to the public. That was one of the reasons we put him on Manny's card in November, to start that process, to get him out there and start building the Tim Bradley brand. His skills have been fantastic, but when you're not under the right guidance they don't get exposed, and that's what we excel at."

Link: http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7530187/top-rank-manny-pacquiao-active-talks-fight-timothy-bradley-jr-june

My thoughts: LAME. This will do very poor PPV buys. Ignoring the 'other' fight - Marquez or even Peterson would have been better. Very disappointing.

Who cares about it's PPV numbers really? Not the fans. This is a good fight for the fans, perhaps not mouthwatering with regards to styles but Bradley ticks all the other boxes. He could give Paq a real run for his money.

This is a terrible match-up in my eyes. Bradley doesn't excite, he doesn't really have much in the ways of talent at what I feel is World Level. He beat Alexander convincingly, but his performance didn't really shout anything about his being able to be put in with the best in the world. I think khan gives him nightmares, a rematch with Alexander would have been more impressive for both figures and excitement. He'll get knocked inside out by Pacquiao.

I would have preferred to see Ortiz vs Bradley. That would have been a barnstormer and I think ortiz would have beaten him - but it would have been a steep learning curve for him to avoid this headbutting moron.

Got to disagree - Bradley offers nothing. This will not be competitive at all. No power, moving up a weight, ugly style. This fight will not be easy on the eyes and fully expect Manny to knock out Bradley.

Pacman looked poor against Marquez because Marquez has his number and always did have.

I'd be content with Bradley, at least he's undefeated, quick and has a good boxing brain and not the usual Manny opponent of late i.e. past his best years.

Bradley is in his prime and with his dirty tactics could frustrate Pac, not enough to lose IMO but at least to make it interesting!

Valero's Conscience wrote:I'd be content with Bradley, at least he's undefeated, quick and has a good boxing brain and not the usual Manny opponent of late i.e. past his best years.

Bradley is in his prime and with his dirty tactics could frustrate Pac, not enough to lose IMO but at least to make it interesting!

I hope so Valero but unfortunately I think the frustation will make this even less of a boxing spectacle. On a separate note - will this actually be PPV or will it go on Sky Sports?

Cheers Alma - do Sky only do this for multi-fight deals?

JabMachine wrote:This is a terrible match-up in my eyes. Bradley doesn't excite, he doesn't really have much in the ways of talent at what I feel is World Level. He beat Alexander convincingly, but his performance didn't really shout anything about his being able to be put in with the best in the world. I think khan gives him nightmares, a rematch with Alexander would have been more impressive for both figures and excitement. He'll get knocked inside out by Pacquiao.

I would have preferred to see Ortiz vs Bradley. That would have been a barnstormer and I think ortiz would have beaten him - but it would have been a steep learning curve for him to avoid this headbutting moron.

I don't see how Ortiz - Bradley would be a barnstormer but not this. Bradley has a horrible style, ugly as sin to watch. But he's as tough as old boots and defintiely something we've not seen Paq face for quite some time/ever. Nothing really to suggest to me Paq will knock him out.

As for a rematch with Alexander, you can keep that!

It's an decent-ish fight, I suppose. Might seem harsh, considering that Bradley is an undefeated world champion of almost four years, but I just can't see this as anything other than a very straightforward night for Pacquiao. The only hope Bradley has is to (providing he's still as robust with an extra few lb on him) use that strength of his on the inside, smother Pacquiao whenever he can and try to throw his timing off.

The likelihood, though, is that Pacquiao is far too clever to fall in to that very simple trap and will be taking advantage of Bradley's oh so repetitive and basic attack all night. Lunges in, takes two or three on the inside, and Pacquiao gets out of range. Repeat many, many times and I think you've got an accurate idea of how Bradley's night is going to go.

Pacquiao's been taking some real stick over the last nine or ten months, so I reckon he'll be fired up for this one. I fancy him to give Bradley a real pasting, stopping him late on.

If Cotto is good enough for Mayweather then Bradley is definately good enough for Pacquiao.

The Galveston Giant wrote:If Cotto is good enough for Mayweather then Bradley is definately good enough for Pacquiao.

I'd say Cotto @ 154 (i haven't heard if they're fighting at a catchweight?) outstrips Bradley @ 147. I fully expect FMJ to win and fully accept Cotto isn't the same guy as when he fought Mosley but he poses a significantly higher risk than someone who wanted zero part of the overrated and exposed Khan.

Mayweather also was happy to take Cotto at his natural weight rather than trying to bring him down. I can't think of many who think Bradley is going to be competitive with Manny, whereas something like 48% wanted FMJ to fight Cotto (off The Ring's poll that had 30k votes). Quite a high number, can't help but think anywhere near the same number wanted Manny to get it on with Bradley.

Both of these newly announced fights would be good enough if it wasn't for the fact they still aren't fighting each other.

Getting to the point now where if they ever do fight each other I'll no longer be interested.

Pacman has in his last few fights looked like he's coming to the end of his career. Mayweather in fairness looks as good as ever.

It seems the longer we go without them fighting the less relevance there will be in their fight.

Getting bored with both of them.

Pac to win a close and competitive decision. The issue for me is that Bradley is a clever fighter whereas Pac is anything but a clever fighter.

Bradley has the added advantage of being very skilled in the use of his head.

Lets be honest though, the only reason this fight is happening is because Manny is ducking Floyd.

As for the fight. Manny gives him a beating which will take him years to forget. Manny KO withing 6.

88Chris05 wrote:
Pacquiao's been taking some real stick over the last nine or ten months, so I reckon he'll be fired up for this one. I fancy him to give Bradley a real pasting, stopping him late on.

Let's hope Pacman feels like this is a real challenge, Roach has said in the past that Manny struggles for motivation if the opponent isnt a real threat. I personally think that this match up doesnt fall into this category.

Agree with Coxy - the Cotto/Mayweather fight is a better match up at 154 than this. This has been the case with all of their recent fights where Floyd takes on bigger challenges than Manny does.

Am I the only one that is backing Bradley to win this? I see a younger, fresher Bradley smothering Pacquiao's work and winning a scrappy UD. Two years ago I'd have had Pac demolishing him, but I think any decline in his movement speed may be exposed in this one.

You thinking a Trinidad hopkins style thing?

Not sure I'd back him Fists but I think this is going to be competitive, Bradley may not do anything outstandingly well but is tactically quite cute and always comes into the ring with a gameplan, and thus far it has tended to be the right one. Think he can certainly make this a tricky nights work for Manny as he has a look of the kind of guy it is tough to look well against.

Fists of Fury wrote:Am I the only one that is backing Bradley to win this? I see a younger, fresher Bradley smothering Pacquiao's work and winning a scrappy UD. Two years ago I'd have had Pac demolishing him, but I think any decline in his movement speed may be exposed in this one.

Maybe worth a dabble at the bookies that one Fists! Make a killing!

Fists of Fury wrote:Am I the only one that is backing Bradley to win this? I see a younger, fresher Bradley smothering Pacquiao's work and winning a scrappy UD. Two years ago I'd have had Pac demolishing him, but I think any decline in his movement speed may be exposed in this one.

Nah I think Bradley could win this one. A scrappy UD would be my prediction as well

I am not excited about this fight, but i do know this - Pac may well lose

Seanusarrilius wrote:I am not excited about this fight

Why is that?

Probably as it's not MAyweather and also because of Bradleys style. To win Bradley will need to be ugly in close i feel so may not be that pleasing to the eye. But 24/7 may hype my face off yet, so we'll see

Seanusarrilius wrote:Probably as it's not MAyweather and also because of Bradleys style. To win Bradley will need to be ugly in close i feel so may not be that pleasing to the eye. But 24/7 may hype my face off yet, so we'll see

You make a valid point. Lets hope Floyd v Manny is the fight after this. We been saying that for 4 years mind

I know, they'll be at it with Zimmerframes the way they are going

It'd be very disappointing if Manny did lose, and would just show that he should perhaps have called it a day by now. All the greats decline eventually, but nevertheless it'd be shame for him to get beaten by someone he would have comfortably disposed of at his best.

Fists of Fury wrote:It'd be very disappointing if Manny did lose, and would just show that he should perhaps have called it a day by now. All the greats decline eventually, but nevertheless it'd be shame for him to get beaten by someone he would have comfortably disposed of at his best.

I would personally love it if the horrible little toad were to lose. Serves him right for his catchweight/ducking history.

And lets not forget he comfortably lost his last one.

Great little article in this editions Boxing Monthly where basically the journalist says like most of us he has become bored of the Floyd Manny saga and if the fight doesnt happen they are both a disgrace to the sport and clearly never had any respect for the fans

I agree if im honest

Me too Steffan, if they don't fight it's a joke, to be honest it already is. Neither are prime anymore, Pac is declining quicker, but this fight 3 yrs ago, complete pick em between two beasts

I hope both of them lose - then they can fight each other as losers for a pittance in comparison.

I think there will be a similar brand of refereeing in this to how Cortez reffed Hatton v Mayweather. No inside fighting and broken up everytime the Bradley head gets within spitting distance

I think it could be a boring fight as pacquiao looks like he struggles to up the gears like he use to and Bradley doesn't hit hard and doesn't do anything spectacular.

That being said I think that Bradley has a good chance. He uses a lot of head movement, coupled with his speed, stamina, chin and skill he could be a nuisance to pacquiao. He is built well and should be able to rough him up on the inside, somewhere pacquiao isn't confident

WHU_Champo_League_in_7Yrs wrote:I think it could be a boring fight as pacquiao looks like he struggles to up the gears like he use to and Bradley doesn't hit hard and doesn't do anything spectacular.

That being said I think that Bradley has a good chance. He uses a lot of head movement, coupled with his speed, stamina, chin and skill he could be a nuisance to pacquiao. He is built well and should be able to rough him up on the inside, somewhere pacquiao isn't confident

I dont think its a case of Pac looking less than spectacular of late. Its that he has fought boxers who haven't stood there to be hit. Clottey and Marg just stood there and allowed Pac to tee off. Cotto offered some movement and had Pac confused somewhat when he did. When he chose to stand there, Pac tee'd off and looked good doing it.

Mosely offered a little movement and Pac looked as if he didn't have any other strategy. JMM countered him and Pac looked hisitent. J<< offered good movement and timing and had the beating of Pac.

Bradley will not stand and trade with Pac. He'll move, stick out the jab. Throw flurries and offer angles that will confuse Pac. His problem is a lack of a big punch. Pac will outwork him and win a UD.

Not sure whether it's because I don't have much interest in Bradley but this fight doesn't excite me in the slightest, had no interest in seeing a rematch with Cotto but does appear that Pacquiao has less viable options than Mayweather.

Mayweather against Cotto seems to be a good fight whereas this is just decent.