Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley 2: Looking Back to Look Forward

This Saturday, Filipino superstar Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao takes on undefeated American Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for his WBO welterweight title.

Once again, the former pound-for-pound king finds himself facing a tricky situation. If Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KOs) emerges victorious, then he has taken but one step further on the road to re-establishing himself as the best in the sport. If he loses, however, then it will be his third loss in four fights, and calls for his retirement, citing distraction and lack of killer instinct, will doubtless ring out.

Indeed, Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs) made that exact point when discussing the upcoming rematch, per Fox Sports.

"

This time around, the circumstances are different. If he loses the fight, he's going to be another retired great. If I lose, they'll say, 'Well, Tim, you lost the first fight too.' I don't care if I ever fight again or win again, I must win this fight.

"

He has a point. Despite being a two-weight world champion and scoring victories over Ruslan Provodnikov (unanimous decision) and Juan Manuel Marquez (split decision) in the past year, "Desert Storm" is still somewhat underappreciated.

The narrative following his 2012 split-decision victory over Pacquiao was consistent—he is overwhelmingly considered the loser of that bout, including by five separate WBO officials. The feeling is, then, that Bradley will have to either notch up a rather unlikely KO or noticeably out-box his opponent.

This is the 30-year-old's biggest fight of his career—of that there is no doubt. For Pacquiao, it is a chance to right the perceived wrong of their previous meeting. 

In boxing, it is difficult to consider each fight on its own. A fighter's recent fights can just as likely shape his next performance. It allows some insight into his state of mind, his form, his strengths and his weaknesses.

Pacquiao

Pac-Man comes into this hotly anticipated rematch off the back of an easy win over Brandon Rios in Macau. 

While Rios is by no means a poor fighter, his confrontational style and tendency to be at his most effective fighting on the inside meant Pacquiao was comfortable simply out-boxing him. 

Yet, despite almost completely nullifying Rios by taking his ability to go toe-to-toe away, a large question mark still seems to hang over the Filipino's killer instinct. With his last KO coming against Miguel Cotto back in November 2009, it's hard not to accept there is a case to be made there.

Things are rarely so clear, however. It is widely accepted that Pacquiao emerged as the de facto winner of the first bout between the two, while his knockout loss against Marquez was as swift and unexpected as Bradley's split-decision victory two years ago, such was the dominant display of the Filipino southpaw before the KO.

It is a testament both to Pacquiao's enduring legacy and the underappreciation of Bradley's abilities that the former is still considered the bookmakers' favourite.

Bradley 

On paper, it seems like Bradley should be the favourite.

Having already chalked up a win over Pacquiao in mid-2012, the American went on to impressively out-box Marquez, who went into that fight off the back of knocking out the Filipino. 

Prior to that, Desert Storm managed a unanimous-decision victory over now-WBO light welterweight champion Provodnikov. A not insignificant lesson from this fight was that Bradley was, at times, seriously worried by his naturally more aggressive and powerful opponent. Intelligently, his decision to take a knee in the final round—thus preventing the "Siberian Rocky" from inflicting more damage in the final seconds—essentially won him the fight.

But boxing is seldom so simple. The manner of his controversial victory over Pacquiao two years ago undoubtedly still hangs over him, and to gain a victory in this bout, Bradley will have to emphatically out-box his opponent or knock him out—two options that seem rather unlikely given Pacquiao's undeniable style, experience and natural aggressiveness as well as Desert Storm's poor 40 percent KO rate.

At A Glance

	Pacquiao	Bradley
Age	35	30
Fights	62	31
Wins	55	31
Losses	5	0
Draws	2	0
KOs	38	12
Height	5'6.5"	5'6"
Reach	67"	69"

Prediction: Pacquiao by Unanimous Decision

The key to this fight will be Pacquiao's concentration.

In his most recent defeats, to Bradley and Marquez, the southpaw was guilty of being somewhat lax both in his ability to go for the KO and in his defence when on the attack. 

If the 35-year-old is completely focused mentally, there is still nothing Bradley can bring to the table that will overly worry him.

Nevertheless, it is dangerous to simply write off Bradley. He has shown—particularly in recent fights—that he will do whatever it takes to get the win. 

Statistics referenced in this article are taken from BoxRec.

Twitter: @smarti51