Manny Pacquiao: Pac-Man Needs Quick Knockout of Tim Bradley to Restore Luster

Manny Pacquiao did himself no favors in a controversial win over Juan Manuel Marquez last November. It was not hard to watch that fight and at least have some doubt that the wrong man (Pacquiao) won.

Anyone can have a bad fight or matchup against one particular fighter. Marquez pushed Pacquiao to the limit three times. But if Pacquiao is going to show that he's not too old and that Marquez is just a tough matchup for him, he'll have to beat everyone in his way convincingly. 

That starts with Tim Bradley. 

In normal situations, a relatively easy decision would work fine for Pacquiao. Knockouts aren't too prevalent with welterweights, and Pacquiao has won several fights by getting an early lead and playing defense. That isn't going to work here, not if he wants to be perceived as the world's best pound-for-pound fighter. 

First of all, Pacquiao is 33 years old. That is certainly an age when fighters tend to be a step slower and their punch loses a little bit of power. Father time is an undefeated opponent, and not even Pacquiao is immune. 

The other number to look at is 59, which is the amount of professional fights that Pacquiao has had. While he has won the majority of them, you take punches when you're in the ring; there is no way around that. 

As a point of reference, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is nearly two years older than Pacquiao but has only had 42 professional fights. 

So, taking all of that into consideration, it wouldn't be much of a leap to say that Pacquiao's prime has just passed. Marquez is a tough opponent but really shouldn't have given Pacquiao that kind of trouble. 

If Pac-Man is going to show that he's not past his prime, he will need to score an early knockout against Bradley. This is especially true since Bradley is the one fighting up a weight class, so he's not used to taking punches from guys like Pacquiao. 

Not taking advantage of that with an early knockout would be a troubling sign for Pacquiao's future as a fighter. 

The fact that Bradley is not only fighting up in weight class but also against an opponent far better than any he has ever faced sets up well for an early Pacquiao knockout. If Pac-Man can't deliver on that, it's as good a sign as any that we've already seen the best of his career.

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