Manny Pacquiao vs Tim Bradley 3
Manny Pacquiao photo by Isaac Brekken for the AP
Manny Pacquiao beat Tim Bradley on Saturday night in Las Vegas by unanimous decision to cap their trilogy and cement his reputation as the second-best fighter of his generation.
It was a good fight, better then the first two, and Bradley hurt Pacquiao for the first time in three fights. But Pacquiao’s superiority was evident, just as it was in the first two fights. Pacquiao scored a marginal knockdown in the 7th round with a right hook, but Bradley forced him to the ropes with a hard flurry in the 8th. Until that point, Pacquiao had been piling up points by moving forward and out-working Bradley with his superior speed.
Pacquiao scored a more convincing knockdown in the 9th, stunning Bradley with a blow then doubling up from an impossible angle with his left after missing a wild overhand shot. Bradley went down hard and rolled backward for only the second knockdown in the three fights. Bradley got back up and soldiered on, but his face betrayed a resignation that the fight was out of reach on the scorecards. Of course punchers always have a chance, but sadly the only chink in Bradley is that he isn’t a puncher.
Between the later rounds trainer Teddy Atlas tried every motivational tactic in his book, but Bradley knew the fight was basically over. He fought on, but after the score was announced he seemed more relieved than upset. He laughed as HBO’s Max Kellerman showed him highlights of his knockdowns, and he seemed content with knowing he was not quite as good as Pacquiao, who he referred to as a special fighter.
Only a horrendous decision in the first fight in favor of Bradley made this one relevant, that and the fact the welterweight championship vacated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. was up for grabs. With Mayweather retired (for now), this fight matched the top two 147-pounders in the world according to the Transnational Boxing Rankings. That makes Pacquiao the champ, even though he promptly retired after the fight (for now).
Pacquiao at least has a legitimate post-fight career in Filipino politics to turn to, while Floyd has been dabbling in a wide assortment of questionable ventures, from boxing promotion to sports betting. Regardless, no one is really fooled by this talk of retirement. Bradley was a good enough opponent for Pacquiao to show that he is back to full health, and that his injured right shoulder is no longer a factor. In fact it seemed to bother him at times during the fight, but that just furthers his argument that the injury was the reason he backed off in the second half of his loss against Mayweather in his previous fight.
Pacquiao probably did just enough to sell a rematch, though it won’t be the blockbuster the first fight was. However, he didn’t do enough to give himself any leverage in negotiations, so all the cards remain firmly in the hands of Money Mayweather, as usual. If Floyd goes on a lucky streak at the sportsbook or one of his young proteges turns into a superstar, perhaps he really will stay retired.
More likely, Floyd will probably decide to return to the ring one last time against Pacquiao, for a pretty healthy share of Pay Per View revenue. We all know what will happen, and yet we will watch it anyway, because these are the two best fighters in the game, even in 2016, six years after I founded this site.
If I’m wrong and this really is Pacquiao’s last fight, then he will go down as one of the most dynamic fighters of the 21st century. Pacquiao’s greatness is such that even a diminished version of him is still better than all but one of his peers. His career is one that almost anyone would be proud of, but there are few fighters content with being second-best. Given a second shot at Mayweather on almost any terms, he would almost certainly jump at the opportunity.
I bought the fight here in D.C. at the Stiff Jab’s original headquarters, but fell asleep as Bradley was making his entrance. I somehow avoided any social media and warned Rodriguez that I hadn’t seen the fight before our morning training session. All he told me is that this one was better than the first two fights. It was, and yet it mattered less, because we all assumed that exactly what happened would happen.
So like most boxing writers, I’m now guilty of looking past the present and towards something that may never happen, setting myself up for a disappointment that grows more comfortable with age, like an old pair of boxing gloves. Watching Manny Pacquiao should never be a disappointment, he is a joy to behold even at this stage in his career. And yet somehow that is exactly how it felt.
Only in boxing can we turn a championship into a meaningless also-ran affair. Oh well. We’ll re-consider if one year from now the rematch hasn’t been set.