Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley: Round-by-Round Analysis and Recap

If Manny Pacquiao's third fight against Timothy Bradley on Saturday is indeed his final bout, it will go down as a memorable performance. If it wasn't vintage Pacquiao, it was at least something very close. 

Pacquiao consistently controlled the flow of the fight and out-landed Bradley in a clear majority of the rounds. In the rubber match between these two, there was no doubt who was the winner this time around. All three judges scored the fight 116-110 for Pacquiao. 

This was a well-fought bout by both men, with competitive moments between the two in most of the rounds. Bradley demonstrated that he remains a very good prizefighter. 

Pacquiao is simply better. He knocked Bradley off balance in Round 7, causing him to touch the canvas with his glove, for a knockdown. In Round 9, Pacquiao sent Bradley tumbling to the canvas for a second knockdown. 

Pacquiao will fly back to the Philippines Sunday morning and spend the next month wrapping up his campaign for a Senate seat in his homeland. With his political career ready to move to the next level and a fortune in the bank, it would certainly make sense for him to walk away now. 

But if he does, he'll do it still near the top of the game. 

Round 1

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The first 30 seconds of the fight were a feeling-out process, with both men circling and looking for range with the jab. A brief flurry took place 45 seconds in, with nothing of note landing for either man. 

Both men looked fluid and relaxed, but neither was too concerned with landing heavy offense in the early going. 

Inside of a minute Bradley threw two straight rights to the shoulder of Pacquiao. The Filipino scored with a straight left with just 30 seconds left in the round. 

It was hard for me to see this round as anything other than 10-10. 

Round 2

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c scored with a good short hook about 20 seconds into the round, with Bradley scoring a lead hook of his own to the top of Pacquiao's head. 

The action picked up in this round, with Pacquiao starting to look for his straight left but with Bradley doing a nice job of threatening the counter to keep him off balance. Bradley continued to look for body shots in the second minute. 

Bradley showed a busy jab and good movement in this round. If the fight was a chess match up to this point, both men were jockeying for position with their pawns. 

Pacquiao landed a nice left inside the last 15 seconds. 

Round 3

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HBO's Harold Lederman gave the first two rounds to Pacquiao, but there was little to justify scoring for one man over the other in either Round 1 or Round 2. 

Pacquiao did begin to show more confidence and aggression in the opening minute of Round 3. But with less than two minutes, Bradley scored with good straight rights and picked up the pace with his own jab. 

Bradley continued to look to score to the body when possible. Both fighters looked sharp in the early going, even if it was leading to a lack of fireworks. 

Bradley landed with a good straight jab to Pacquiao's body with 20 seconds left in the round.

Round 4

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Bradley landed a glancing lead hook upstairs in the opening seconds of Round 4. At just after the 30-second mark, he threw a little flurry that backed Pacquiao up without really scoring. 

Pacquiao scored two good left hands just past the two-minute mark. Just before the halfway mark, Bradley looked to throw a chopping right uppercut to Pacquiao's torso. 

Bradley scored with a straight right just before the two-minute mark. There was very little sign of Pacquiao's right hook in this round, and the HBO team began to speculate that his shoulder might be bothering him.

Bradley landed a hard right hand just before the closing bell. 

Round 5

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Bradley tried to get aggressive inside of the first 20 seconds of Round 5, briefly backing Pacquiao up. Pacquiao landed a nice left hand about 45 seconds into the round.

Bradley was able to get physical and rough Pacquiao up a bit against the ropes, and then he scored a big right halfway through the round. Pacquiao came back with a nice left of his own about five seconds later. 

Bradley just missed with a straight right and then landed a stiff left uppercut just over two minutes in. In the last 45 seconds of the round, the action picked up the most, with both men scoring but Pacquiao clearly getting the better of it. 

Round 6

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Bradley looked to regain control of the tempo of the fight as Round 6 began. Pacquiao continued to remain relaxed. 

Inside of the first minute of Round 6, Bradley landed a good lead hook. He looked to land a straight right to the body with about 1:15 left in the round, but Pacquiao countered with a quick flurry of right and left hands. 

Pacquiao continued to be an elusive target in this round and exhibited the better hand speed in the exchanges. 

Round 7

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Halfway through the fight, HBO's Harold Lederman gave his scorecard as 5-1 for Pacquiao. Pac-Man continued to control the tempo and close into his desired distance from the angles he preferred.

While no major scoring took place over the first two minutes of this round, Pacquiao was able to potshot and flurry and simply be the better ring general, backing Bradley up when he wanted to. 

Inside of 30 seconds, Bradley attempted to flurry, but Pacquiao slipped out of danger. With just 15 seconds left, Pacquiao connected, knocking Bradley off balance. His glove hit the canvas for a knockdown. 

Round 8

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With Bradley now pressing to make something happen, Pacquiao seemed to gain even more control over the fight. In all honesty, Bradley had looked like a talented fighter throughout this fight. But Pacquiao was consistently just a little bit better. 

Bradley landed a good right hand with about 1:15 left in the round but was unable to follow up. Pacquiao scored two flashy flurries with around one minute left in the round. 

Then, with about 45 seconds left, Bradley scored a blistering combination and hurt Pacquiao, driving him to the ropes. Pacquiao hung on and managed to score a left hand at the end of the round, but Bradley won Round 8.  

Round 9

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With the fight two-thirds over and Pacquiao likely in the lead, Bradley looked to build on the momentum he created in Round 8. At about halfway through the round, Pacquiao landed a nice left, but Bradley countered with his own big punch. 

Seconds later, Bradley scored well again. In the second half of the round, Pacquiao fought with more urgency than he had in two or three rounds and landed a good left hand with just about one minute left in the round. Seconds later he followed up and dropped Bradley for the second time in the fight. 

Pacquiao resisted the urge to get reckless for the final 30 seconds of the round, but continued to press forward and stay in Bradley's face. 

Round 10

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Bradley looked the part of a discouraged fighter as Round 10 began. Pacquiao remained measured but aggressive, steadily backing Bradley up over the first half of the round. 

Bradley looked to get his punches off in the second half of the round, but Pacquiao continued to control the pace, punching effectively with both hands. 

Pacquiao landed another nice straight left on a lunging Bradley with about 20 seconds left in the round. 

Round 11

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Pacquiao continued to look as crisp in the penultimate round as he had at the opening. With the action relatively slow over the first two minutes, Pacquiao continued to bounce in and out of range and establish distance with his jab. 

Both men landed good punches within seconds of each other just past the two-minute mark. Bradley threw sharp punches in this round and was competitive, but with Pacquiao owning a wide margin on the cards, Desert Storm simply wasn't doing enough. 

Round 12

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Clearly needing a knockout to win, Bradley fought with aggression in Round 12. A minute into the round, he scored a nice, straight right. Throughout the first two minutes of the final round, Bradley pushed the aggression, while Pacquiao looked to stay out of trouble. 

With less than one minute left in the fight, Pacquiao showed some moments of aggression. But for the final 30 seconds, he was mostly on his bicycle, with the fight clearly won. 

Inside of the final 10 seconds, clearly out of danger, Pacquiao stayed in range and traded a final flurry and then raised his hands victoriously as the final bell rang.