Sorry about this, but after the combatants have bared their strengths and strategies, there looms the likelihood that the rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley could last all of 12 rounds.
Don’t go away yet: There’s also the stronger promise of a delectable prizefight feast, a valid theater.
Maybe the second encounter would not produce a brutal knockout affair, it won’t be a blazing rock concert, but the upcoming battle should be a memorable war dance, rich in sporting aesthetics.
* * *
Manny has promised to be doubly sharp, vicious.
Bradley should be able to display, with authority, how supremely elusive he can be.
Tim Bradley: “I don’t have to knock out Pacquiao to get a definite result. I will pick up right where I left off in the first fight. This will be just rounds 13 to 24 for me. I will be faster than Pacquiao. I will have better defense. I have been in the ring with Pacquiao. I know exactly what to expect. I will make a few adjustments. With two good feet under me, I will be victorious again in the end of the night.”
Manny Pacquiao: “I am inspired. I am the challenger. I know I will need to outbox and outspeed Bradley. And that is what I will do. I want to get my title back from Bradley. I want to prove I am the best.”
* * *
Now, don’t take this to mean Bradley cannot be effective despite his chronic defense. He sure knows how to hit back. He has been able to demonstrate how to be effectively elusive and still score big points at the right moment.
He’s also a fabulous survivor.
In short, Bradley, after admitting he didn’t have the desired power in his fists, could just dance and sting all night long.
* * *
Pacquiao will surely go for knockout, but he will not allow himself to be fooled and jumpstart. Pacquiao will have no choice but try and box carefully with sustained sharpness for all three minutes in every round. That’s if he’s to avoid the disaster in the first encounter, where he got outsmarted (by both Bradley and the judges) after he went all out only in the final minute of the decisive rounds.
Anyway, if he’s to dig for a hidden bonus, maybe Pacquiao should try to subject Bradley to a serious body check, considering what Freddie Roach had observed that the unbeaten WBO welterweight king had suffered severe damage in the Provodnikov fight.
No strong promise of a KO ending.
But watch out for deeper drama, real catharsis.