Pacquiao vs. Bradley 3 Fight Time, Prize Money, Projected Winner, Vegas Odds
Manny Pacquiao will hit the ring Saturday in Las Vegas for his third meeting with Timothy Bradley in what might be the final fight of his career.
Bradley took the first encounter in controversial fashion before Pacquiao cruised in the second, so it's only right the legend takes a stab at breaking the tie and besting someone who got him once, just like he did Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales.
It's a big fight for Bradley, too. He has a new trainer and looks great, and he can really make a statement and move up by taking down Pacquiao.
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Here's everything that has been revealed so far about the pay-per-view event.
Pacquiao vs. Bradley 3
When: Saturday, April 9 at 3 p.m. ET
Where: MGM Grand, Las Vegas
TV/Live Stream: PPV
| Arthur Abraham vs. Gilberto Ramirez | WBO world super middleweight title |
| Oscar Valdez vs. Evgeny Gradovich | WBO/NABO featherweight title |
| Jose Ramirez vs. Manuel Perez | WBC Continental Americas junior welterweight |
| Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley | Vacant WBO international welterweight title |
Known Prize Money, Las Vegas Odds
Where Pacquiao goes, there's money.
As one of the biggest draws in sports, it's not a shock to hear Pacquiao secured himself a $2 million advance from promoter Bob Arum as part of what will be a $20 million guaranteed purse, according to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael.
Official numbers for Bradley aren't out, but one can rest assured it's a large chunk below what Pacquiao is getting. Go figure, as Pacquiao drew a world-record 4.7 million pay-per-view buys in his bout against Floyd Mayweather last year. Arum makes it sound like this rubber match won't break one million.
While deep in the money talk, bettors who want to throw coin around have two interesting options in the main event. Over at Odds Shark Bradley presents an interesting underdog option at plus-252, while Pacquiao has the safe play covered at minus-308.
Bettors might want to consider Bradley, who made a trainer change and looked great in a TKO win against Brandon Rios. Yes, the first win against Pacquiao was controversial to the point that a pair of judges no longer performs the duty, but he's been in the ring with the man twice now and has a fresh perspective with new trainer Teddy Atlas running the show.
Pacquiao, of course, is the safer option. Forget a controversial, almost out-of-nowhere injury he and his camp brought up after the loss to Mayweather and just understand Pacquiao dominated Bradley for most of both fights.
Don't forget to factor in that this might be Pacquiao's final bout if he enters the political realm.
“I’m really eager to show a good fight with this one, to make the fans satisfied with this performance,” Pacquiao said, according to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times.
Projected Winner
Bettors have much to decide on when looking at these lines.
Was Pacquiao's loss to Mayweather and the subsequent chatter about an injury (which he had surgery for later) a sign that he's losing a step? Or is Mayweather really just a cyborg who hardly ages? And is Bradley more of a challenge than ever now that his career has undergone a much-needed change?
It's not like Bradley doesn't have the motivation to pull off an upset. Forget holding a winning record against a legend, Bradley finds motivation in how the world greeted him for the first upset.
"The people, the media, everyone humiliated me,” Bradley said, according to Andrew L. John, of the Desert Sun. “I was ridiculed, demonized, you name it. It was like I took something from the world. Everybody hated me for it.”
A new look and strong motivation don't figure to be enough for Bradley, though.
Pacquiao has had more time off than usual to prep for this fight. While he's also coming back from an injury, there's no indication he's lost the speed or power that helped him look like the better fighter in each of the first two fights.
With Pacquiao's career potentially coming to a close (barring the off chance that Mayweather will agree to a rematch, which is plenty of motivation in its own right), there's little reason to believe Bradley can pull off the upset.
Pacquiao simply has more power and showed better speed and accuracy over the last two fights, which would explain why Las Vegas feels so confident. Look for a knockout as Pacquiao says goodbye.
Odds via Odds Shark.
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