Manny Pacquiao: Why Pac-Man Will Fail vs. Desert Storm

There has been much speculation about whether or not Manny Pacquiao is the fighter that he once was following his controversial win over Juan Manuel Marquez back in November of 2012.

And rightfully so, because he isn't the boxer that he was back in his heyday, and he's going to disappoint his fans all over the world when he puts on a poor display against Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley on June 9 at the MGM Grand Arena.

Pacquiao has been known as one of the most exciting boxers in the sport for a long time now, but his skills and passion have since deteriorated. He underestimated the power of Marquez in their second rematch, and he's likely to do the same against Bradley.

Bradley poses a huge threat to Pacquiao because he is an excellent counter puncher, just as Marquez is. He's not as polished as Marquez in that department, but he's still much better than Pacquiao when it comes to parrying then striking. Pacquiao had an extremely tough time with the counter punching of Marquez, and he should have been awarded a loss because of it.

Not only was it the counter punching, it was also Pacquiao's inability to close the gap between him and Marquez, resulting in countless off-balance attempts. We haven't seen that from Pacquiao too often, but we'll surely see it again in his clash with Desert Storm.

Pac-Man seemed a step behind in November, and while he has had plenty of time to train and recuperate, you don't just feel younger out of the blue (unless you're Kobe Bryant, of course).

Never have we seen Pacquiao get caught in the face as many times as we did against Marquez, who is 38 years old by the way. If Marquez was able to move quick enough to catch Pacquiao in precarious positions, then the 28-year-old Bradley with a relentless motor will be able to catch him off-guard as well. 

Pacquiao isn't ancient. He's 33 years old, which doesn't put him at a huge disadvantage as a boxer, but fighters are certainly past their prime at that age, while 28-year-olds are right in the middle.

Pac-Man is also going to have an issue dealing with Bradley's stance. Not just his stance, but his propensity to fight close and lean with his head. We're going to see a lot of Bradley stepping on Pacquiao's toes, and it's only a matter of time until he catches Pac-Man with an "inadvertent" head butt.

Pacquiao hasn't ended a fight in his last four matches, and we won't see him do it on June 9 against Bradley. Bradley realizes that he has a huge chance to turn himself into a start, and it would be extremely surprising to see this one not go to the scorecard.

Even if Pacquiao wins on points, fans will still be disappointed. People don't order boxing matches to see the fight handed over to the judges, they order the fight to see carnage. They want to see a knockout. If Pacquiao doesn't provide them with one against Bradley, there's going to be some very unhappy boxing fans.