Pacquiao-Bradley discussion
 

The fight is in less than a month... obviously it's not the boxing match that everyone was hoping for, but it's something fresh, with Manny taking on a young, undefeated fighter in Tim Bradley, which contrasts to a lot of his past opponents who have been criticized for being over-the-hill.

That aside, even if Manny isn't at his peak (whether he is past it or has too many distractions), I have a hard time seeing Bradley not getting killed. He's good, but his KO rate (less than half) says a lot. He has a tendency to swing wide when punching (just watch the HBO highlights of Bradley-Alexander), and during that time, Manny can throw a jab or a hook and wear him down.

the last fight I went to see in vegas was with Mosley which was a sham and got booed... good the the undercards were decent. not going to vegas on this one but I think it will be more entertaining than Pacquiao/Mosley.

I agree. It started out decent, but once Mosley got dropped, he just wanted to survive and was pretty much running from Manny the whole time after that. Even the Showtime recaps showed that Manny was running toward him and throwing punches, but they weren't landing since Shane was backing up the whole time. But at least we got a knockdown! I was drunk at a bar when I watched that fight, but I remember how the crowd in Vegas booed when they hugged at the very beginning of the twelfth round.

At least Bradley will fight and not run away. We should get a good fight, though I have a hard time thinking that Bradley will be competitive on this level. We'll at least be entertained, hopefully with a good knockdown, as I'm thinking we might see a repeat of either Pacquiao-Diaz (in 2008 at 135) or Pacquiao-Hatton (in 2009 at 140) unless Bradley surprises everyone and magically has the ability to knock people out... but again, I don't see that happening, since he rarely knocks out people who aren't even elite fighters.

I re-watched more of his fights since starting this topic, and his punches are just so messy. It almost looks like he's slap-boxing (since he doesn't keep his arms stiff when punching but instead rotates at the elbows, kind of like how a baseball pitcher throws) and just throwing ANY punches he can (rather than accurate ones), as the body shots he throws land in less effective locations.

Bradley will get worked by Pacquiao. Should be a good fight for a while, if your a Pacquiao fan.

Mayweather-Pacquiao should happen after Floyd gets out of prison in a few months.

Not gonna happen, why? meywether is afraid

Haha yeah, basically. He's gifted as far as physique goes, and I'm curious exactly how big he'll be on fight night. Even though it's going to be his first fight at 147, apparently he walks around at 155-160, so he'll likely outweight Manny by at least a few pounds, despite Manny having been at welterweight for more than three years.

Well, it's actually jail... but while there's no logical reason for the fight to not happen next, I'm sure some hurdle will still come up, as usual. Cotto was a legitimate opponent, especially at 154, and we saw that.

After Cotto, there's really no one else left that people would really care to see Floyd fight outside of Manny. (Sergio Martinez wants a piece of Floyd and said he was willing to drop down to 154, but he might be a bit too big for Floyd, even he comes down from 160. Plus he's not really that big of a draw, even though it would be a legit fight.) I think very few people would care to see him fight Ortiz again or Khan or even Canelo.

I really don't think that he's afraid, but it seems like he just wants to put it off as long as humanly possible, for whatever reason. But he's among the most illogical of boxers I've ever heard, despite also being among the most talented to ever lace up a set of gloves.

I was hoping that Manny having a difficult time against Marquez last November would boost Floyd's confidence enough to lure him in, though I don't doubt that his difficulty with Cotto (who I don't doubt he wanted to KO to prove a point when people compare their past opponents) shook his confidence and made him look more vulnerable to the public than ever before. It will only be worse if Manny ends up killing Bradley (who I also think would get killed by Marquez).

Apparently Manny will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight.

nice:cool:

The fight is a week away now... we'll see how much better Manny's conditioning is compared to his fights in 2011. Either way, I have a hard time seeing Bradley doing anything effective. His boxing technique isn't really on the elite level just yet.

they always use the Mandalay hotel. they would arrive at around 9p at the back of the hotel entrance. its hard to get an autograph, unlike before:)
Pac by KO -> 9

After watching the most recent 24/7, toward the end where it shows Tim and his dad training in the ring, it almost looked like Tim had a stance similar to Floyd's, practicing some shoulder techniques while keeping his right hand next to his head. It was just a little odd at first, but we'll see how much of that he's using.

The weigh-in just happened... Bradley was 146, and surprisingly, Manny was right at the limit at 147, the heaviest he's ever been at weigh-in for any fight.

Bradley's changed his approach this past week, just being a mean-mugger and in Manny's face the whole time. Not that it really changes anything, but it's good for conversation.

oh...it will change everything

Wow... this will clearly go down as the most notorious robbery in the history of boxing.

what can i say.....:popc:

If you're watching the post-fight press conference right now (on toprank.tv), Arum is talking right now and saying that he had it 11-1 (which I did as well), and he's kind of saying that he wants someone from the athletic commission to step to the mic and justify the judges' decision.

He did crack a funny joke a minute ago... he said something about how even Floyd would know if he watched the fight, but wouldn't be able to say anything about it "for another forty days or so."