Bradley vs. Pacquiao: Why Bradley's Confidence Will End with His First Loss

Timothy Bradley has no shortage of confidence regarding his June 9 bout against WBO welterweight title holder Manny Pacquiao, but his confidence (or perhaps arrogance) will ultimately end with his first professional loss.

A recent story by GMA News displayed just how excited and confident Bradley is for this fight.

At first, Bradley seemed humbled by the opportunity to fight arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the sport saying, “I am thrilled beyond compare that I am challenging Manny Pacquiao.”

“Thrilled beyond compare” you say? I don’t know about that Bradley—my dog was pretty jazzed about that B-O-N-E she got last night (I’m afraid that even if I type the word she’ll go nuts).

Despite Bradley’s evident humility through that quote, his true colors showed later on.

“It feels great to get the fight with Manny Pacquiao,” he said. “It’s going to feel even better when I beat him. You can take that to the bank.”

Alright, I understand that as a boxer if you don’t have a sense of cockiness and arrogance, you’re probably going to get beat. You have to believe you can win before it can actually happen, but “you can take that to the bank” seems a bit extreme. I certainly will not be taking Bradley’s comment to the bank because I’m a bit light in the wallet at the moment.

The fact that Bradley is basically guaranteeing a win against Pacquiao probably will not sit well with the WBO welterweight title holder.

Bradley is undefeated at 28-0 in his career, but his lack of experience when compared to Pac-Man is already working against him. He did not need to add fuel to the fire.

In addition to Pacquiao’s advantage in terms of boxing experience, he’s fighting to defend his WBO welterweight title. Pacquiao won that title back in 2009 against Miguel Cotto and still retains it.

He’s defended his title three times already since 2009 (against Joshua Clottey, Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez), and the Bradley fight will be no different.

Pacquiao steps up when it matters most and lets his skills in the ring do the talking for him.

Enjoy that 28-0 record for now Bradley—it will soon be tainted with your first defeat.