Why Pacquiao should knock Bradley out

By Al S. Mendoza

 

IT is just a week from today when Manny Pacquiao climbs the ring again.

The last time he did, on May 2 last year, he lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr.  By unanimous decision.

And the last time he fought, the rotator cuff of his right shoulder got broken.

He endured the wound from the fourth round on, claiming later he virtually fought one-handed.

Why it had to be that way, only Pacquiao would know.

The injury was already there even before he faced the unbeaten Mayweather.

Pacquiao said he didn’t want to report the injury for fear of jeopardizing the fight.

Like, it will be postponed too long and that might cause a cancellation of the fight.

Some say he kept the injury secret because he needed the fight purse so badly to pay some debts.

And in so doing, he fought wounded.

With that, a foot of his was on the grave already even before the first bell was banged, in a manner of speaking.

He lost terribly by unanimous decision.

In my scorecard, he almost did not win a single round.

Why Pacquiao had even the gall to say that he thought he won the fight remains a mystery to this day.

Ego maybe?

To this day, there are still unresolved court cases lodged against Pacquiao and the fight organizers; the petitioners cried deception and demanded money.

With nearly a year of inactivity, no one’s saying Pacquiao’s readiness to fight is suspect.

No doubt he has trained so well.

He’s been like that all these years:  Prepare hard for a fight.

No wonder he has become one of the eight wonders of the world.

No wonder, too, that he is the lone fighter to have won eight world division titles.

In Bradley, Pacquiao is fighting a man he had met twice.

He lost by split decision in 2012 when it was clear that Pacquiao won that fight.

A panel assigned to review the fight found Pacquiao the winner by unanimous decision (same as mine).

In that first fight, Pacquiao had all the chances to knock Bradley out in the sixth.

But shockingly, he refused to do it even if Bradley had been jarred and ready to fall—electing to just toy with the under-matched American.

In 2014, Pacquiao did his best to finish off Bradley.

He failed.  Miserably.  His punches weren’t as crisp and telling as before.

No one was surprised.

The last time Pacquiao scored a knockout win was in 2009, when the referee stopped the Pacquiao-Cotto fight upon seeing a hapless Cotto being mercilessly battered black and blue.

It’s been seven years since—and, yes, Pacquiao is now saying he could come up with a knockout. Again.

Even his trainer, Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, is saying Pacquiao will knock Bradley out in the 9th round on April 10 (PHL time) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Well, let us see.

Bradley’s only loss was inflicted by Pacquiao.

But if he should lose to Pacquiao again, this time, it must be by knockout.  Ask Duterte.

Pacquiao needs that so badly as a knockout victory will tremendously boost his senatorial bid in the May 9 polls.

That could also stop him from making good his promise to retire after the Bradley fight.

Isn’t also the rematch with Mayweather music to the ears?

(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)

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