Pacquiao vs. Bradley: Last-Minute News and Notes for Showdown

Fight day has arrived and the stage is set.

Manny Pacquiao will put his 54-3-2 record on the line against the challenger Timothy Bradley (28-0 12 KOs) to show the world he is a better fighter than the one who narrowly escaped defeat against Juan Manuel Marquez in his last fight.

This will be only the third time in Pac-Man's career that he enters a fight as the older boxer. While there isn't a huge difference between 33 and 28, there is no question that Pacquiao is facing Bradley in Desert Storm's physical prime.

One of the main factors of this fight will be the head butt. Bradley doesn't intentionally fling his noggin around, but more often than not he ends up bloodying his opponent with it. Grantland's Eric Raskin explains why Pacquiao has to be aware of the flying head butt:

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Especially with Pacquiao being a southpaw and Bradley fighting out of an orthodox stance, head clashes seem certain to be a factor in this fight. PacMan will want to use lateral footwork and carefully calculated angles to avoid getting battered by the ram, but even if he succeeds, that will mean Pacquiao devoted a significant portion of his training and strategy to avoiding Bradley’s head (rather than identifying ways to attack it). 

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It's an aspect of the fight you'll have to keep a close eye on.

While Bradley may have an unblemished record, the 28-year-old is well aware this will be the defining moment of his entire career (via NY Daily News):

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It's been a long journey, I don't know how long it will go on or how soon it will come to an end. But I spent 18 years of my life trying to get to this point. I came from fighting in what I call those lumberyard fights in California. Now I'm in Las Vegas fighting at the MGM Grand. As long as I kept working hard, I knew I'd get to this point.

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His career is at a crossroads.

If he wins, he'll be the guy that ruined an epic Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather and will be the headliner every fight card he participates in for the rest of his life.

If he loses, he's just victim No. 55. He will never have a shot at Money May, and will be relegated to a rather quiet second half of his career. This fight is everything for him.

With only 12 knockouts, it's likely he'll have to win via decision. Can he convince the judges against boxing's most marketable commodity?

For Pacquiao, this is just another fight. He's been here plenty of times before and you have to wonder how high his motivation will be for this fight. Does he still have the strong hunger and desire that has fueled him throughout his career? Are his recent poor showings a sign he isn't the boxer of years ago?

There are a ton of question marks regarding this fight and finally they will all be answered tonight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

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