Posted:
#1
I covered boxing for eight years when I was a reporter. There wasn't a big fight in the late 80's and early 90's I didn't miss. Truth be told I don't follow the sport as much nowadays because guys who fight once every 18 months and are constantly holding out for that one big payday simply don't enthuse me. This isn't like yesteryear when Ali, Sugar Ray, Duran, Marvelous Marvin, The Hit Man or Tyson were in action constantly. But that doesn't mean my opinion is shot like a aging boxer's reflexes.
Go back a year. Remember when the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight was being discussed? Even before they signed the contract I told you Manny would lose, that he had no chance against and was a shot fighter.
So he lost and of course it was conveniently blamed on a torn rotator cuff injury that required surgery. Okay, I'll give you that he wasn't 100 percent. But if he fought Floyd 10 more times last year he would have lost every single one of them.
Pacquiao - who showed his true colors with his disgusting homophobic slander a few months ago - is an old 37.
Did he get robbed when he faced Bradley in 2012 as the latter was awarded a ridiculous 12-round, split-decision win?
Absolutely.
Did he pound Bradley in a 12-round unanimous decision in the 2014 rematch?
Absolutely.
But this is 2016. And Manny is 37 and coming off a shoulder injury.
Do you want to be laying -195 with this guy?
I don't.
The smart money play here is taking Bradley, Jr. - who is five years younger - at +175.
He did get dominated in the 2014 rematch, but he also tore a calf muscle in that fight so maybe I'll cut him a bit of slack. But the real reason I'm backing him tonight - other than Pacquiao's age - is the fact he's got Teddy Atlas in his corner again.
Atlas took a guy who had 12 knockouts in his first 34 pro bouts and forced him to be more aggressive. The result was a ninth-round knockout of Brandon Rios in Vegas last November 7. Now, Rios was in awful shape, but Bradley clearly heeded his trainer's advice and took the fight to his foe unlike any other time I've seen him in the ring.
Pacquiao is going to fight going forward all night. He's going to look to get inside and unleash his usual flurry of punches. Problem is those punches don't pack the wallop they did a few years back and those flurries aren't going to be as vicious as they were five years ago.
I see this one going to the distance and Bradley getting the decision. For years Pacquiao was a judges' favorite in Vegas, but his lousy performance against Mayweather and anti-gay slurs have tarnished his image.
This is a fight that isn't generating a hell of a lot of interest at the betting windows compared to Manny's previous bouts and it's not one I'm particularly enthralled about, either. But, again, the only way to bet it is by backing the younger guy as a big dog who has only gotten better with Atlas in his corner.
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