Bradley less dangerous to Pacquiao’s health?

The deal has yet to be made official, but the thing to ask now is: Has Manny Pacquiao honestly found Timothy Bradley a lesser foe?

According to a source, a press tour for the bout has been set—starting in Los Angeles on Feb. 4 and in New York Feb. 5, although promoter Bob Arum has not made any formal announcement.

Maybe Arum is still crafting a saucy catchphrase to sell the unfinished business between Pacquiao and Bradley?

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Pacquiao, much ahead, had announced he preferred Bradley (over Ruslan Provodnikov).

It was indeed a more dramatic and, therefore, more saleable choice.

But there were other pundits who claimed Pacquiao must’ve chosen Bradley because the reigning WBO welterweight champion would not prove wholly troublesome or, to put it bluntly, dangerous to Pacquiao’s health.

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Pacquiao also made it known he was not too keen on clashing with Provodnikov because the fearless bomb thrower should have more time to rise, build up and fine-tune his sensational career.

Provodnikov traveled all the way to Colorado last year to stop the great Mike Alvarado in an eye-popping toe-to-toe slugout for the world light welterweight crown.

Provodnikov, by the way, also happened to be a former Pacquiao sparmate at Wild Card, and the two warriors have undoubtedly developed a liking for each other.

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In the case of Bradley, Pacquiao has enough reason to be unfriendly with the unbeaten fighter who stole the Pacman’s world title with the help of incompetent judges in June 2012.

It would be an understatement to say Pacquiao has more than enough motivation to go after Bradley’s head

But fair warning: The Tim Bradley we have today is no longer the same gangling, indecisive fighter Pacquiao had toyed with in the first half of their first meeting.

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In fact, Bradley capped his phenomenal surge last year with an upset conquest of Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez.

Bradley today has developed into a competent slasher who’s capable of making timely adjustments inside a round.

It’s no secret how Bradley had dislocated his foot early in that first meeting with Pacquiao.

The fighter known as the Desert Storm, however, held on grimly while Pacquiao faded and no longer posed a danger to Bradley’s health in the closing rounds of that controversial contest.

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FLASH!: As we went to press, Bob Arum said it’s not definite the Pacquiao-Bradley bout would take place: “I’m optimistic, the issues are being attended to closely. But this process takes time and you can’t just make it happen. These things take a long time to finish and negotiate.”