Pacquiao vs. Bradley Predictions: How Pacquiao Will Keep His Hot Streak Alive

You don’t win 54 fights by accident.

There has been a growing sentiment that upstart Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KO) has what it takes to shock the world and upset the great Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO).

While he may not be as focused on boxing as he used to be, Pacquiao is still the pound-for-pound champ in the eyes of most and as long as he sticks to the game plan, he will have no problems dispatching of the much more inexperienced Bradley.

Desert Storm is a strong counterpuncher who can punish Pac-Man for leaving himself vulnerable. He also holds the kind of agility and quickness to really force the pace to keep Pacquiao on his heels. There is no question he is an incredibly versatile fighter.

Pacquiao can certainly handle either style. When talking about the June 9th fight, Pac-Man makes it clear he will be prepared for whatever Bradley throws at him (via ESPN):

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I don't know what Tim Bradley will bring in the ring on the night but we will be ready for whatever he brings. I know he will be 100% conditioned for the fight. We have practiced every kind of fight in the ring with four different sparring partners.

In our training now, we've started to do different techniques and movement and boxing and fighting toe-to-toe. Bradley is a different type of fighter and we don't take this fight lightly. We have trained hard for Bradley because he is the type of fighter we cannot underestimate.

"

That’s the mentality he has to have: ready for whatever.

With a five-year age gap between the two, another factor Pacquiao must focus on is getting a big lead early. Regardless of how in-shape he is, Bradley will show up in better condition, which means Pac-Man needs to win the vast majority of the first eight rounds to ensure he doesn’t need a miracle comeback like he had against Juan Manuel Marquez at the very end of their bout in November.

Jumping to an early lead will also allow Pacquiao to crush the confidence of the ultra-cocky Desert Storm. He’s never been in a fight of this magnitude before. We don’t know if he’ll resort to dirty tactics once the fight begins to get away from him.

What we do know is that as long as Pacquiao is prepared for a match featuring multiple different approaches by Bradley, and he gets out to an early lead, he should have no trouble walking away with the win.

With over double the experience of Bradley in the ring, expect Pac-Man to outsmart is overly confident opponent. 

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