Pacquiao solid, but isn’t Bradley all shook up?

Timothy Bradley falls to the mat after getting hit by Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, during their WBO welterweight title boxing bout Saturday, April 9, 2016, in Las Vegas. AP

THERE was an order for outright demolition. But Manny Pacquiao doesn’t regret having failed to score a devastating knockout in his third encounter against American Timothy Bradley Jr. in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao is truly overjoyed that, in beating Bradley—while flooring the usually tough former world welterweight boxing champion a couple of times—would come the realization that he could still compete at the highest level.

There were actually unvoiced fears that Pacquiao, as he continued to push himself hard close to the official weigh-in, could overwork and suffer from burnout.

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The unanimous win over Bradley, whom Pacquiao had succeeded in knocking down for the first time in three encounters, can’t be counted among his finest performances. But it’s also in that bout wherein Pacquiao was able to display sustained defensive maturity.

Never careless, never careless, Pacquiao told a vivacious female interviewer, who also succeeded in drawing the official farewell message from the legendary Filipino boxing superhero on top of the ring.

Truth is that Pacquiao has delivered something that could in a way be equal to a knockout win as Bradley, cornered and under siege, was fortunate enough to have been saved by the final bell.

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Pacquiao was not at his best, but didn’t he manage to secretly dismantle Bradley, whom trainer Teddy Atlas had supposedly reinvented?

For the record, Atlas, despite having done practically everything for Bradley, would blame himself, saying he failed to push the right button at the proper time.

To this, there however came questions on whether or not Atlas had also bothered to consider all the savagery Bradley had been through, like in that questionable decision win over tough Ruslan Provodnikov, who had dealt Bradley a concussive beating in their very cruel fight.

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Wasn’t it a case of too many punches in too many brutal bouts for Bradley last Saturday in Las Vegas?

Wasn’t Bradley, based on past brutal beatings he had to take, already appeared like a shining but shaky building that still looks good from outside, but could actually be overdue for demolition, with all the invisible cracks in its foundation?

With all the glorious clamor, Pacquiao may have no choice but return to the ring after enjoying a brief retirement.

On the other hand, shouldn’t Bradley, after that alarming losing stand against Pacquiao, be first subjected to a serious clinical check before he’s exposed to more killing savagery again?</pre>