Pacquaio Defeats Bradley In Rematch, Regains WBO Welter Title

ByDanny Wilson

Manny Pacquiao took back the WBO welterweight title last night at MGM Grand’s Garden Arena in Las Vegas, gaining a measure of revenge upon Timothy Bradley, who unseated Pacquiao in June, 2012 at the same venue.

After a feeling out period, southpaw Pacquiao was the first to hit the target, rocking the iron-chinned champion in the second round with the first of what was to be many straight left hands.

The third saw good exchanges but Pacquiao’s big edge in punching power made a difference until Bradley began timing the challenger effectively in the fourth round, scoring well and even hurting Pacquiao with flush right hands.

Pacquiao seemed to tire in the fifth and Bradley took advantage of the slowdown to find a home for some nice rights. Pacquiao stemmed Bradley’s momentum with tight defense until going into blitzkrieg mode and shelling the champion in the corner late in the sixth and seventh frames.

The eighth was a slower round with Pacquiao edging it by landing the harder punches. The ninth and tenth frames heated back up with Bradley trying to turn things around but a motivated Pacquiao threw punches in bunches, putting the champ on the ropes.

Bradley looked for the KO in the final two rounds but just doesn’t have the concussive force to prevent the more mobile Pacquiao from posting the higher workrate at a greater accuracy.

Pacquiao suffered a cut from an accidental headclash with Bradley in the 12th but swept the three score cards by margins of 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110.

Pacquiao improves to 56-5-2 (38) while Bradley loses for the first time, falling to 31-1 (12).

At 35 years of age, Pacquiao seems to have lost a step from his peak of 2006-2011 but against Bradley showed a high level of stamina, sharp accuracy and good power against a very tough opponent in the prime of their career.

Bradley showed remarkable toughness and grit, making Pacquiao dig deep but was simply outboxed and outworked.

If he can get past Marcos Maidana next month. will Floyd Mayweather Jr now finally face Pacquiao [or Bradley?] in the ring or will he continue on against lower-level opponents such as Amir Khan?