Pacquiao vs. Bradley, is a changing of the guard at hand? Part II
By Nick Bellafatto
This weekend’s clash has fight of the year written all over it in a bout that features a clash of styles between in and out fighter Manny Pacquiao and an aggressive boxer in Tim Bradley, who’s forte is to get to the body and wreak havoc. It will be quite intriguing to see how things will play out in this HBO Pay Per View attraction taking place at the sold out MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend.
And venturing inside against the hard punching Filipino sensation is precisely what fuels the argument of those who believe the moonlighting Philippine Congressman will catch an overly aggressive “Desert Storm” as he attempts to get busy in-close, therefore placing the challenger in a compromising position from which it is calculated he may never emerge.
However, Tim knows when to push and when to pull. Where many think he will come with reckless aggression which will play into the hands of an opponent who’s perhaps best chance at a clear cut victory is an early knockout. I surmise that the man making yet another foray amongst the welterweight ranks will avoid such a circumstance and apply intelligent pressure when the time is right.
“Desert Storm” stated this along these lines, “they are banking on an early knockout with Pacquiao coming out fast and putting me to sleep early and that’s not going to happen. If he does have some power then I definitely have to be smart in there and outbox this guy. But if I don’t feel like he can hurt me then I’m definitely going to step to him and I’m gonna make a fight out of it.”
And whereas there is no doubt that the edge in power goes to Manny Pacquiao who carries dynamite in his fists as quite possibly the quicker handed fighter, unless the Filipino is able to connect in a significant way and put the hurt on a challenger determined to no end, it could be a difficult night for the “Pacman.” Bradley Commented, “at the end of the day, I think that the only advantage that he probably has on me is his power. He is a big puncher. He is dangerous any time or at any point in that ring. Honestly man he can land it flush on the chin, and we’re going to see after the first round if he lands a big left and I eat it, he’s going to be in for a long fight.”
A daunting task lies before Manny Pacquiao as he is no doubt facing as formidable a foe as one could find in a young, quick, highly versatile fighter in Tim Bradley, who at or near the peak of his physicality as arguably the more athletic of the two fighters, possesses a mental toughness that is second to none. To be certain, is much faster than a Juan Manuel Marquez, against whom the Filipino fighter could only land glancing blows. It goes without saying that “Desert Storm” will be much more difficult to hit.
And for all of the exploits of the “Pacman,” Tim Bradley as the visibly more fleet of foot fighter has the ability to take away what up to now has proven most advantageous in various victories compiled by the Filipino. Specifically, Manny Pacquiao in the biggest of fights has landed his most devastating punches as a result boxing his way out to different angles on the floor where opponents can’t pick up where his fight finishing blows are coming from.
However, Bradley, who has only tasted the canvass once before courtesy of an unseen blow from Kendall Holt, is not only quite adept at fighting from angles himself, but combined with his overall quickness he has the speed to nullify this very tactical advantage which Manny has enjoyed in previous fights.
As a result, I look for “Desert Storm” Bradley to in fact beat his opponent to different spots on the floor, enabling the challenger to in many instances get his punches off first from a less than vulnerable position while he looks to avoid return fire. “If you stand right in front of him you are going to be chopped liver. He’s not going to hurt me because he can’t hit what’s not there man,” said Bradley.
Continuing on, what stands out in my mind after covering numerous Bradley fights is that Tim is a multi dimensional fighter who’s best asset or ability is to visibly make necessary adjustments during the course of action. Tim just has a knack for putting himself in the best possible position to gain the upper hand.
A prime example would be his successful 2009 title defense against Lamont Peterson where he and Lamont would trade near even to the body early on, only to see “Desert Storm”find his niche and gain an advantage by boxing brilliantly from the outside. By making use of distance and angles, Tim would overall effectively control the action, clearly out-hustling Peterson for the certain victory.
As regards adjusting against Pacquiao, Timothy put it this way. “You can take a couple of approaches in this fight. You can be a counter puncher, and you can take the space away. It just depends on how Pacquiao comes out, and I’ll make the adjustment in the ring. If he comes out blazing fast of course I’m going to be very cautious. But if he comes out slow of course I’m going to take it to him at times. I think he’s going to storm out of the gate and just come straight to me and try to finish me off in a few rounds, and he’s going to run into trouble because I’m a really good counter puncher. I have really good timing man.”
All told, unless the supposedly spiritually re-born Manny Pacquiao is totally dialed in and is afforded the opportunity to land hard accurate blows come fight night as one who depends on speed, power, and high volume punching as the less physical fighter, obtaining victory against the brash and bold Tim Bradley will present some issues. Tim is just so much more than an aggressively natured fighter so that the defending champion cannot count on his opponent making himself readily available for his heavy hands, which may necessitate that Manny take some risk in creating offense.
And whereas many will claim that Timothy lacks sufficient power himself to slow a primed, supposedly re-focused and re-invigorated Pacquiao who’s looking to get beyond various past criticisms, from an accumulative perspective. When Bradley unleashes his shots to the body, fighters visibly begin to deteriorate. “As soon as I lay hands on them they become really defensive,” commented “Desert Storm.” I systematically break guys down. I take every punch away from them starting with the jab. I take that away. Then I take their straight left away, go to the body, break them down and apply the pressure.”
This may bode well for Mr. Bradley in his bid to become a superstar at the expense of pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, who has in the past been vulnerable to solid body work. Of course, it will not only be quite interesting to see how the Filipino responds to an in your face assault by the aggressive Tim Bradley who is no doubt looking to take his place amongst boxing’s elite, but it will be just as intriguing if not more so to find out if “Desert Storm” could avoid having the lights turned off prematurely as the Filipino kingpin looks to regain past glory in defense of his WBO welterweight title.
And if you are wondering why there are few if any Manny Pacquiao quotes in this or other articles, it’s because the Filipino idol, not prone to fight hype, is a man of few words, tending to let his hands do the talking once the bell sounds. But in acknowledging his opponent Pacquiao would state, “Timothy Bradley is the king of the junior welterweight division in search of new worlds to conquer. I know how he feels. I admire his ambition and his self confidence to risk his undefeated record by moving up in weight to challenge me. When I walk into the ring on June 9th it will be more than a world title defense for me. It will be another opportunity to bring honor and glory to my country and to my fellow Filipinos in the Philippines and around the world.”
To sum up, whereas much criticism has been leveled against Pacquiao perhaps due to his reaching iconic proportions, or at least building the large part of his reputation in the last few years by defeating name recognition fighters who either had to reduce down below their effective fighting weight, or had existing flaws of one sort or another, perhaps the onus is on Manny, the very reason Freddy Roach would mention the word retirement in conjunction with Pacquiao’ name. We’ll find out shortly what the Filipino is really made of as Bradley represents what previous Pacquiao opponents have not in that “Desert Storm” aside from being highly skilled, is young, fast, and is a go getter.
And in speaking of criticism, I could not finish this writing without alluding to the head butt issue which is quite a concern on the part of Team Pacquiao. For Tim Bradley, the Southern California resident has been unfairly accused of using his head as a strategic weapon during some of his ring exploits, even though head clashes he has been involved in were either incidental due to his often times aggressive style, or were in fact initiated by wary opponents. This was clearly the case in bouts with both Devon Alexander and Nate Campbell, as all one has to do is watch various replays of each incident, with instant replay itself to be ushered in as part of sport in the near future.
In essence, the stigma surrounding Bradley is unwarranted, as adversaries to look to put an end to the battering by reaching out to grab. “I can be a high volume puncher. Most of the guys I face can’t keep up with my pace and they want to hold me,” said “Desert Storm.”
All controversies aside, this weekend’s HBO Pay Per View event promises to provide fireworks as long as it lasts. And whereas one solid blow from the Filipino fighter could either change the course of this epic confrontation or put an end to matters, I’m going to go with “Desert Storm” to weather the storm, winning a battle of attrition to either come away with a shocking late round stoppage, or a perhaps more difficult to obtain decision victory. Any way it goes, if you miss a fight this year, don’t let it be this one fight fans, as a changing of the guard could be at hand.
