Timothy Bradley vs Manny Pacquiao II Preview

By Peter Wells:

Manny Pacquiao (left) & Timothy Bradley (right)

While most would disagree, I believe that being awarded a split decision victory over global superstar Manny Pacquiao has done more good than bad for Timothy Bradley's boxing career. With the highly controversial win, Bradley instantly became a well-sought name. His anger at the abuse and death threats he and his family received after the fight, spurred him to go toe-to-toe with Ruslan Provodnikov for 12 rounds, in the fight of the year in 2013. Then the rejuvenated Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez offered Bradley another defining night in which Bradley shone, producing by far the best performance of his career thus far.

Now one would point to the backlash he received from the "boxing" world - I put boxing in speech marks as anyone who sends death threats to a fighter clearly has no respect for the sport itself - and had he come away that night with the first defeat of his career, he would have avoided the disgraceful acts of those individuals. But then again Bradley would not have become a household name, the biggest night of his career would have been sorely forgotten - in much the same way that no one reminisces about Pacquiao's one-sided affair with Joshua Clottey. Added to that is the fact that even if Bradley had still gone on to fight the fearsome Provodnikov, he would have likely boxed cautiously, taking a clear decision. Then it is highly unlikely that a Marquez coming off the biggest victory of his career would have risked it all against Bradley who had lost to the man Marquez had just vanquished. Career defining fight out the window, and most importantly a rematch with Pacquiao would have been as unlikely as Floyd Mayweather working with Bob Arum again.

We do not know where Bradley would be right now if he had not been handed the victory over Pacquiao on 9th June 2012. While he would still have been recognised as a world class fighter, one does not feel he'd have been given the chance yet to prove he is one of the best pound-for-pound, something he did when convincingly beating Marquez. It seems that fate may have disguised itself once again in the murkiest of waters, offering a silver lining when it seemed Bradley's career would be seriously hampered.

Tonight Bradley 31-0(12) will get a second chance to prove himself the better fighter when he steps in the ring with Pacquiao 55-5-2(38) in thus far the biggest fight of the year. Both have so much to prove and despite the two already sharing the ring the general consensus is even closer than ahead of their first encounter when Pacquiao was the overwhelming favourite with the boxing media. So despite the large majority seeing Pacquiao clearly winning their first bout, many more are tipping Bradley to cause the upset once again.

Pacquiao's cautious approach against Rios last time out earned him the label as a fighter who had lost his killer instinct, but one can point to the fact that he was more wary of avoiding a similar fate to the one he met against Marquez in their 4th encounter. Rios though offered nothing to suggest whether or not the "old" Manny is back.



Bradley & Pacquiao after their first encounter

On the other hand Bradley showed fans his sturdy chin and tremendous heart against Provodnikov - the win over the Russian became even more notable when Provo broke down and stopped Mike Alvarado later last year. Then he demonstrated further improvements when boxing perfectly to the game plan against Mexican idol Juan Manuel Marquez.

That performance against Marquez, where Bradley boxed a disciplined fight off the back foot, while engaging in short fire-fights when he wanted to engage, commanding the contest against the veteran throughout, is what has many including myself believing that Bradley has what it takes to take the victory in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao will be bouncing in and out, while Bradley waits patiently, snapping the jab with good timing. Pacquiao can wow the crowd and judges when he swarms Bradley, but Bradley will not be fazed as he works far better on the outside, upping the intensity as each round draws to a close. Bradley will continue to counter Pacquiao, possibly stunning the Filipino as he jumps in on a few occasions. The initial pick was for Pacquiao to be awarded the decision in a close fight, but as the fight has drawn nearer the more I have leaned towards a Bradley upset win. Ultimately the victor may go to the man that works more in quiet spells of the fight, and following his win over Marquez, I give Bradley the slight advantage to steal enough close rounds and take a split but fair decision.

To accompany the fascinating main event is an action packed undercard, including three 50/50 fights. Arash Usmanee steps in as a late replacement for Rocky Martinez to challenge Raymundo Beltran in a 12 round Lightweight bout.



Raymundo Beltran (left) & Arash Usmanee (right)

Usmanee 20-1-1(10) has made his name through two controversial fights at Super Featherweight against two of the top 130lb fighters. Arash's aggressive approach gave fits to Rances Barthelemy last January, but Usmanee was unlucky to come out of the contest with a unanimous decision loss. Usmanee was then the fortunate fighter earning a draw against IBF Super Featherweight champion Argenis Mendez. While the contest was close, it seemed that Mendez's slick boxing should have earned him the win, albeit he kept his belt with the draw.

Beltran 28-6-1(17) may have a different opponent but Usmanee's style bodes similarities to the aggressive style of Martinez, only Usmanee pays far less attention to defence than Martinez does.

Beltran's career was revived last September when he was unlucky to only draw with former WBO Lightweight champion Ricky Burns - who has since been dethroned by Terrance Crawford. But defeats since 2008 to Ammeth Diaz (TKO 4), Sharif Bogere (UD 10) and Luis Ramos Jr (UD 10) - all good world title contenders but none world beaters - highlights that Beltran can have as many off days as on days.

The change of opponent could be a trigger for an off day but his power and ability to time Usmanee should be too much for his cruder foe. Beltran can take a clear unanimous decision in an entertaining 12 round bout.

Elsewhere Super Featherweight Jose Felix Jr takes a step up in competition when he faces former world title challenger Bryan Vasquez.

Vasquez 32-1(17) suffered his only defeat as a professional against the outstanding Takashi Uchiyama (TKO 8) in 2012, but has rebounded well with 3 wins including against Rene Gonzalez (TD 5) last time out.



Bryan Vazquez (left) & Jose Felix Jr (right)

Vasquez likes to box at a high tempo off the back foot, firing in quick combinations, while Felix Jr 26-0-1(21) is a tall banger, who throws wide, but powerful punches in bunches. His victory over Luis Cruz (UD 10) highlighted his defensive vulnerabilities when he was dropped in the 4th, but a 3rd round stoppage of Santos Benavides last time out was a grave signal of his power.

Vasquez may struggle to find a rhythm on the outside and his tendency to drop his hands when moving backwards could be hazardous. Vasquez may be ahead on the cards at the time, but the pick is for the raw Felix Jr to score a stoppage inside 9 rounds.

In arguably the most intriguing contest on the undercard, Joan Guzman vanquisher Khabib Allakhverdiev 19-0(9) hopes to continue his sudden rise against hot prospect Jessie Vargas 23-0(9).

Vargas' biggest win came in 2011 when he had to slug it out with Josesito Lopez (SD 10). An active puncher, Vargas does struggle when under huge pressure which is what Lopez put him under throughout the fight.



Khabib Allakhverdiev (left) & Jessie Vargas (right)

That all-pressure style is what Allakhverdiev implied to beat Guzman (TD 8) in a sensational battle that ended unfortunately when Guzman badly injured his left knee. Victories over Kazier Mabuza (TKO 4) and Souleymane M'baye (TKO 11) have proven he is not a one-trick pony.

Vargas will look to keep Allakhverdiev at bay with the jab, and if he can move enough to force Khabib to chase him then he can come out with a victory. But it will be hard to sustain movement under the pressure Allakhverdiev applies. Despite only 9 knockouts, Khabib is a big hitter and the pick is for Allakhverdiev to force a stoppage of the brave but tired Vargas in the final third of the contest. Do note that this could be one of the fights of the year.