Too soon to talk about a Pacquiao-Bradley rematch
Most Filipino boxing fans were hoping that a win by Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley over Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez would almost surely guarantee a rematch between Bradley and Manny Pacquiao whom Bradley beat in a universally criticized split decision in June last year.
But that appears to have been pushed to the back-burner as Bradley, an undefeated and ambitious young man believes he is one of the top three pound for pound fighters in the world today and is hoping to get a shot at another undefeated superstar Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Mayweather has to fulfill his six fight contractual obligations with Showtime and giving Bradley a shot may well help tone down a wider media and fight fan demand for him to at long last face Pacquiao which, by all accounts, Mayweather wants to avoid and uses a variety of reasons for doing so except the one reason that makes sense – his fear of losing to the Filipino southpaw who is perhaps the one fighter with the speed and power to give Mayweather a hard time, at the very least.
The possible scenarios will have to wait until we see how Pacquiao performs in his showdown with Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios at the Cotai Arena of the plush Venetian Hotel and Casino in Macau on November 24.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, perhaps the most astute man in the boxing business, held off those of us who immediately thought of a Pacquiao-Bradley rematch considering that Arum himself had been furious over the judges decision that robbed Manny of a deserved win.
'Premature'
Shortly after Bradley beat Marquez, Arum told Yahoo Philippines that talk of a Pacquiao-Bradley rematch was premature although he didn’t discount the possibility.
He said “nothing is likely but nothing is not possible” even as he emphasized that Pacquiao has to beat Rios first and he didn’t think it's going to be easy.
Arum made it clear “that’s a very, very hard road so let’s concentrate on Rios and then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do next.” The Bradley-Marquez fight obviously didn’t excite Pacquiao enough for him to watch it on television. Instead he was at a praise and worship service in a hometown church which he attends regularly with wife Jinkee.
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Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz told us he personally thought “it was a very boring fight. As we expected Bradley did not show anything that warrants anything more than a $5 million purse. Nonetheless, at this point in time we are not interested in Bradley and are focused on Rios. Further, there are other fighters out there who are deserving of an opportunity to fight us.”
Interestingly, at least in the eyes of Koncz, who offered Bradley $6 million for a rematch before he chose to fight Marquez to whom he dangled a $13 million purse on the instructions of Manny, Bradley’s value has diminished after his win over Marquez – the man who scored a crushing 6th round knockout of Pacquiao last December 8.
Marquez complains
Against Bradley, Marquez showed his age. At 40 and ten years older than Bradley, the once-feared Mexican looked a shadow of the fighter who engaged Pacquiao in four epic battles. Maybe, the battering he received from Pacquiao before he caught him with what Manny believes was a “lucky punch” took its toll on Marquez.
Despite his whining joined in a chorus by trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain and strength and conditioning coach Angel “Memo” Heredia, that he was robbed by the Las Vegas judges for a sixth time, the undeniable truth is that Bradley deserved the decision even though it was split with judge Glenn Feldman having Marquez the winner 115-113 while Robert Hoyle scored it 115-113 and Patrician Morse Jarman 116-112 for Bradley.
Well-known boxing commentator and writer Atty. Ed Tolentino and this writer who did the coverage on The Filipino Channel of ABS-CBN for audiences in the Middle East, Europe and Australia had Bradley winning 115-113.
Marquez who has lost his base of Filipino supporters because of his constant griping about the judges decisions said, “I think the people saw a good performance and the judges did it again. When you come to Vegas you need to get a knockout. The judges are more dangerous than the opponent.”
In stark contrast Pacquiao, even though he was virtually robbed of a decision against Bradley never criticized the judges or bitched about the decision. He merely moved on which has set him apart as a genuine sportsman.
Beristain, the Hall of Fame trainer, echoed his fighter’s views. In a snide remark he said, “Bradley is a good fighter and he is the only unbeaten fighter with two losses. Today he won but they know he didn’t win the fight.”
Bradley’s trainer Joel Diaz who is a good friend of Beristain conceded that Bradley “is never going to get credit. We did our job and executed a plan. Boxing is hit and not get hit (shades of Mayweather). You want to see a fight? Go to a bar!”
Bradley's strategy
It was clear that Bradley was quicker than Marquez, used his jab to keep Marquez off balance and not allow him to use his right hook or his uppercut and darted in and out, scoring with flurries.
If you listened to Beristain and Diaz in between rounds, you’d get a much better perspective of what went on. Diaz kept reminding Bradley to stick to their game-plan and not engage Marquez inside and to stay away from the ropes, because the Mexican was a great counter-puncher and he couldn’t afford to risk duplicating what he did against Ruslan Provodnikov when he tried to slug it out and nearly got knocked out.
In the championship rounds Diaz noticed that Marquez’s handlers were changing their strategy in what seemed like an admission they were losing the fight and needed to have the Mexican carry the fight to Bradley, which is not his style which is that of a counter-puncher. This is why Marquez always looked good against the aggressive Pacquiao.
Marquez had a desperate look on his face when he tried to go after Bradley in the last few rounds but except for one or two instances, Bradley refused to engage and thereby ensured himself of a well-deserved victory.
With his war with Provodnikov, a former sparring partner of Pacquiao, a definite candidate for “Fight of the Year” and his win over future Hall-of-Famer and Mexican legend Marquez part of his undefeated career, things should turn around for Bradley who may eventually get the recognition he deserves.
Indeed, the public anger over his essentially dubious split decision victory against Pacquiao for which no blame could be laid on Bradley but should be squarely attributed to the judges including Cynthia Ross who has mercifully disappeared from the Nevada State Athletic Commission roster, media and boxing fans may look at Bradley in a far more positive if not sympathetic fashion.
The scorecards
A breakdown of the judges scorecards provide an interesting insight into how they saw the fight. Hoyle had Bradley winning round one, 10-9 while Feldman and Jarman gave it to Marquez by the same margin.
All three judges were in agreement that Bradley won the 2nd, 5th, 6th and 7th rounds and that Marquez took round 9.
Robert Hoyle saw Bradley winning seven of the first eight rounds, giving Marquez only the first. But he had Marquez winning the so-called championship rounds 9 through 12 even though Marquez was almost dropped in the dying seconds of the final round with a stunning left by Bradley while Feldman and Jarman saw Bradley winning the twelfth round.
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Pacquiao has been training relentlessly at his Pacman Wild Card Gym in General Santos City and has looked sharper after trainer Freddie Roach checked in.
Roach himself knows that Rios won’t be an easy fight as some people believe because of his come-forward style and his tendency to stay in front of an opponent and not more around. The belief is that Manny has too much speed and power for Rios who, incidentally, has never been knocked out.
Rios’ trainer Robert Garcia is extremely pleased about how Rios is coming along in training, even as he conceded that the entry of Pacquiao’s former strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza who was fired by Roach with the apparent blessings of Pacquiao, has helped tremendously in preparing Rios for the Pacquiao fight.
Ariza himself told us that Rios “is the only person in the world I ever met who, when he learned he was fighting Manny Pacquiao didn’t wince, have any reservation, and had no fear or nervousness.”
Veteran HBO Sports television commentator Larry Merchant believes the showdown between “Pacquiao and the exciting Rios is an “excellent comeback fight for Pacquiao and the fans who love to watch Rios.”
Merchant made the statement in a conversation with popular broadcast journalist Eli Seckbach.
A longtime admirer of Pacquiao, Merchant’s analysis is that “if Pacquiao isn’t Pacquiao after his last fight (the crushing 6th round knockout at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez) given the fact that he has a full-time job as a politician, then Rios is the type of fighter who will expose that.”
He said “if Pacquiao really wants to bring back the Pacquiao we knew and loved this is the opportunity to show he can still do it.”
Asked about the views of some who believe Rios will be an easy target for Pacquiao. Merchant replied, “style-wise its understandable because under the matchup Rios is an ideal opponent. But if Manny is not 98 percent of Pacquiao, then he’ll become the ideal opponent for Rios.”
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
