Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley: What Desert Storm Must Do to Stay Undefeated

Many boxing fans were hoping that Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao's next fight would be against Floyd Mayweather, and while that has yet to come to fruition, he will have a major challenge on his hands in the form of undefeated Light Welterweight Champion Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley.

Pacquiao is the considerable favorite as he normally is, but Bradley won't be an easy opponent by any means. He holds a career record of 28-0 and is considered one of the fastest-rising stars in the sport. Pacquiao is coming off a controversial victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in his last fight and there is some question regarding whether he might be on the decline.

Here are three things that Bradley must do on June 9 in order to shock Pacquiao and remain unblemished moving forward.

Be the Aggressor

Pacquiao is one of the most aggressive and powerful fighters in the sport, and that often scores him plenty of points with the judges. Pacquiao was thoroughly outsmarted and out-boxed by Juan Manuel Marquez in his last bout, but he was able to get the victory because he continued to press forward in the latter rounds.

Marquez decided to sit back and play defense, and while that allowed him to control the tempo of the fight, it cost him in the end.

Bradley can't afford to wait around while Pacquiao throws punches, because the judges are going to give Pac-Man the benefit of the doubt.

Bradley can still be cautious while being aggressive, and that is what he'll have to do. He can't go after Pacquiao with reckless abandon because Pacquiao will make him pay, but if he pushes forward and is cognizant of Pacquiao's quick hands, then it will serve him well.

Avoid Pacquiao's Combinations

There is no doubt that Pacquiao has incredible punching power, but if he is unable to string together several punches in a row, then he is unlikely to be scoring many knockouts.

Pacquiao is masterful when it comes to forming combinations and really hurting his opponents, but there are ways to neutralize that. Marquez was successful in doing so thanks to his defensive style, and while Bradley shouldn't be that conservative, he can employ a hybrid style.

Bradley simply needs to be selective. If he gets too careless then Pacquiao is inevitably going to tag him with some damaging combinations.

If Bradley picks his spots, though, and diffuses the situation every time Pacquiao throws a punch, then he'll keep the combos to a minimum. It would behoove Bradley to take this fight the distance since he probably isn't going to knock out Pac-Man, and avoiding combinations will be a major factor in doing that.

Counter-punch Effectively

Another thing that Marquez did extremely well was counter-punch Pacquiao. Every time Pacquiao threw a punch Marquez had some sort of answer, and that is what allowed him to go toe-to-toe with Pac-Man.

Bradley is going to have to make the first move in this fight, but when Pacquiao inevitably starts to land some punches, Desert Storm needs to make sure that he is reciprocating with some strikes of his own.

If Bradley starts to get pummeled and doesn't give anything back, then he's going to look really bad in the eyes of the judges. When a barrage is answered it is all but forgotten, but when it goes unmatched, it looks that much better.

Pacquiao thrives when it comes to out-punching his opponents on a fight-by-fight basis, but if Bradley can make it look like Pacquiao's flurries don't bother him, then it will bode well for him on the scorecards.

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