Pacquiao vs. Bradley: 10 Pressing Things to Know About the Fight

When Manny Pacquiao meets Timothy Bradley on June 9, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, for “Pac-Man’s” WBO welterweight world championship, the two fighters will have a host of interesting things going on before and during the fight.

Here are 10 things you need to know about Pacquiao-Bradley.

1. Pacquiao Barely Even Mentioned Bradley at the NYC Press Conference

Pac-Man was besieged with questions about everyone and everything, it seemed, except the fighter he was actually scheduled to fight next during his roundtable discussion with reporters during the second leg of the Pacquiao-Bradley press tour. This doesn’t mean Pacquiao won’t train hard. His soon-to-be Hall of Fame trainer, Freddie Roach, says Pacquiao will continue training as hard as always.

But there were distractions in the previous Pacquiao fight that he can’t afford to have this time. His political responsibilities will need to be put on hold for the six to eight weeks Pac-Man trains for this fight. Is Pacquiao’s lack of attention towards Bradley a small hint he is looking past him?

2. A Win-Win for Bradley

He says he doesn’t care about the money—a career-high payday $5 million. And you tend to believe him. This is important. Bradley feels confident and promises to put on a good show. Win or lose Bradley benefits. A victory over the amazing Pacquiao puts Bradley on a different echelon, it gives him crossover appeal in the boxing and sports world. A loss, after an incredibly strong performance, creates a larger fanbase and still gives him a brand name that he can also cash in on for future fights. When he was told he would get the Pacquiao fight, Bradley broke into tears. It’s the chance of a lifetime, and you sense he’s not going to let it slip.

3. Pacquiao Says He’s Not Preoccupied with Floyd Mayweather

That’s tough to believe, when even Pac-Man’s 11-year-old son, according to Pacquiao himself, broaches the topic to his father about the man the world wants to see him fight. Pacquiao is growing more irritated with the constant questions about where a possible Mayweather showdown stands.

In the past, Pacquiao had exhibited great adaptability when it came to multi-tasking. But he is a little older now, and the many things he used to easily handle seem to be wearing on him. He certainly showed a different side of himself in NYC, telling the gathered media, he’s “tired of answering that” Mayweather question.   

4. Bradley is Coming Up in Weight and Has Had Only One Welterweight Fight

The benefit here is that Pacquiao is a smallish welterweight. The most Pac-Man has ever weighed for a fight is 145-and-three-fourths against Joshua Clottey on March 13, 2010, in Dallas. In fact, Pacquiao seems to have had bigger problems with the smaller guys he’s faced (Juan Manual Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, who handed Pacquiao his last loss in March 2005) than any of the larger, though older, shopworn fighters he recently faced (Antonio Margarito, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley).

5. The Referee Will Be a Factor

Pacquiao alluded to Bradley’s headbutts during their New York City press conference. Pac-Man has concerns Bradley may head butt him during the course of the fight, so the assigned referee will need to be vigilant of distance and leaning of both fighters. Bradley does like to use his noggin like a battering ram at times, but he’s never launched himself at an opponent. A clash of heads could prematurely end this fight with a cut eye before it begins to heat up.

6. Pacquiao Says He’ll Have Two or Three More Fights and He’s Calling it Quits

Pacquiao said he was going to have two or three more fights after the second Juan Manuel Marquez fight in March 2008. Here’s why that’s pertinent: Fighters can age rapidly overnight. Will we see all his wars suddenly catch up to Pac-Man in one night against Bradley? That’s highly unlikely. But what fight fans may see, and what could happen, is a rapid erosion of his skills.

It makes for a much better fight with Bradley. But it could mark the precursor as to the first signs of slippage in Pacquiao’s once-impenetrable armor.

7. Bradley’s Diet Boost

Bradley jokingly said he looked a little beefy during the New York City press conference, but “Desert Storm” converts into a vegan when dieting for fights. It’s been working well for him in his last handful of fights, and he says he has far more energy in the later rounds than he’s ever had before. Bradley is coming up in weight, but he walks around at about 150 to 155 pounds. Making the weight won’t be a problem at all, and the route Bradley uses to cut weight seems to be making him even stronger.

8. The Last Time Pacquiao Stopped Anyone Was Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14, 2009

Pacquiao beat up a very good Cotto, and beat him up badly. Since then, everyone else has gone the distance with him. Granted, Pacquiao has been fighting larger opponents than he ever has before. But his go-for-broke, all-action, I’m-going-to-kick-your-ass style is what attracted fight fans to the Filipino dynamo in the first place. In his quest to recoup some lost knockout excitement, does Pac-Man take some high risk against Bradley?

9. Training in Los Angeles Matters

Pacquiao aims to please. He’s not only boxing’s, but among the few number of sport’s giants that still cares what fans think and believe. Part of that comes in his uncommon preparation for fights. That stems from the amazing relationship trainer Freddie Roach has had with Pacquiao. It’s reached a point where Roach has become this beloved avuncular figure in Pacquiao’s Philippines himself.

But yanking Pacquiao from the many clutching hands that are constantly grasping at him in his homeland is becoming increasingly harder. Now with his political career beginning, it makes it even more difficult. Getting a whole training camp in without the milieu of sycophants surrounding him is crucial.  

10. Bradley is Dealing With a New World

As cameras, photographers and media swirled around him the last two weeks, Bradley handled it all with aplomb. This is the largest stage he’s ever been on and he hasn’t let it consume him. “Why should it?” Bradley asked. “I look at this as an opportunity of a lifetime, and it’s just a fight. When all the cameras and the notepads, and pens, and microphones go away, it’s just a fight. Me and him, Manny Pacquiao, a guy I’ve wanted to fight my entire career. I’m not going to let all of this hoopla take me over, believe me.”

Joseph Santoliquito is a Bleacher Report contributor.