Manny Pacquiao is the new welterweight king, dropping Timothy Bradley twice to win with dominating performance despite an 11-month layoff and shoulder surgery at age 37. Pacquiao is just exceptional!

With the spectacular performance over Tim Bradley, many were skeptics about Pacquiao's talk of retirement. Pacquiao is still very impressive in dominating the number 2 rank fighter at welterweight without any problems at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Saturday night.

Pacquiao dropped Bradley in the seventh in what looks like a slip looking at it from a better camera angle.

But in Round 9, Pacquiao caught Bradley with a hard left uppercut that sent Bradley to his ass on the floor. The crowd gets wild!

More detailed report on this fight soon.

Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao faces Timothy Bradley Jr. for the third time. This is for the welterweight championship of the world, Saturday night. This could be the 8-division champ's last fight.

• Date: April 9, 2016 (April 10, Manila)


• Venue: MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada


• Division: Welterweight


• 12 Rounds


• At stake: The Welterweight Championship of the world.

The fighters

The stage

Fight Prediction Pacquiao vs Bradley Jr III preview and prediction

Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley stepped on the scales Friday evening at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao vs. Bradley happens Sat., April 9 live on pay-per-view beginning at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

Timothy Bradley endorsed Manny Pacquiao's senatorial bid during a friendly final press conference.

TBD will be live blogging the welterweight championship match between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley.

Multi-division champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) and American top welter Timothy Bradley Jr. (33-1-1, 13 KOs) on Saturday night, 9th April 2016 (Sunday morning, 10th April 2016).

Lone eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) and American boxer Tim Bradley Jr. (33-1-1, 13 KOs) will have the final press conference today 6th April 2016 at 2:00 PM ET/11:00 PT following their welterweight championship match Saturday night (Sunday morning Manila) 9th April 2016 at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

A pointless rematch

Taking on the pointless rematch

Another pointless rematch

• Matt Korobov (24-0, 14 KO) 159.4 lbs vs Andy Lee (33-2, 23 KO) 159.8 lbs.


• Mauricio Herrera (21-4, 7 KO) 139.5 lbs. vs Jose Benavidez (21-0, 15 KO) 138 .5 lbs.

• Andy Lee - $225,000


• Matt Korobov - $160,000


• Mauricio Herrera - $200,000


• Jose Benavidez Jr. - $90,000

Fighter of the Decade and congressman Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao dominated former undefeated two-division world champion, Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley in their rematch, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KO's) regains the title back that Bradley took away from him in their highly controversial (or shall I say highway robbery) fight in 2012. He proved that he's the better fighter, and still a top caliber athlete. And can beat younger pound-for-pound fighters.

The scorecards reflect what transpired in the ring that reads 116-122 twice and 118-110 in favor of the Filipino southpaw.

I'm glad that there's no odd scoring tonight.

Although it is evident that Pacquiao speed is no longer the same when he fought Oscar Dela Hoya, Ricky Hatton or Miguel Cotto, but at 35, his speed could still match Bradley which has decent speed. Pacquiao still have coordinated footwork and balance that played well in this fight.

Prior to the fight both men wanted to win convincingly and looking for a knockout.

However, the knockout never came out.

Maybe Pacquiao's power has diminished, or it's just that Bradley is too tough.

Yes! Bradley (31-1, 12 KO's) is a tough fighter. He stayed and absorbed the best Pacquiao punch that landed. Look at Bradley's abdominal muscle during the weigh-in. He can be an outright cast of "300" movie.

But yes, Pacquiao did win convincingly.

Although many believed Bradley has improved since the last fight, but I think he's not. The thing is that in his recent fights he looked exciting to watch as he engaged toe-to-toe more often against Provodnikov and Marquez. And he showed that against Pacquiao on Saturday night. In round 4, he hurt Pacquiao with a solid punch during the exchanges. But he wasn't able to follow up.

In rounds 5 and 6 Bradley engaged and challenged Pacquiao into a brawl. But Bradley's lack of fire power made him backpedal when Pacquiao landed much heavier shots at him. Pacquiao had the power advantage. This is evident in round 7 wherein Bradley forced to back down as Pacquiao landed hard shots.

Pacquiao started to step up his offense in this round. Bradley would throw wide strong right hands over the top as Pacquiao lunged in for offense. I believe Bradley hope to emulate Marquez who landed a brutal right hand as Pacquiao rushed in. But Pacquiao was too cautious.

Retired HBO commentator Larry Merchant ask Pacquiao's thoughts about the wild punches that Bradley throws that Merchant referred to as look like "amateur". Bradley took the microphone and answered Merchant that it was part of the game plan to throw strong right hands over the top when Pacquiao comes in.

Pacquaio could have finished the fight unscathed. But the clash of heads with 20 seconds left in the fight leaves Pacquiao a cut above the left eye.

Photo credit: Top Rank

Here are the Pacquiao vs Bradley undercard results that happen before the anticipated rematch between Filipino boxing icon Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao vs. undefeated American Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley Saturday night, April 12, 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ray Beltran UD 12 Arash Usmanee

Former Manny Pacquiao sparring partner, Ray Beltran (29-6-1, 17 KO's) becomes the new NABO lightweight champion winning via wide margin against Arash Usmanee (20-2-1, 10 KO's) of Red Deer, Canada. Beltran lands the telling blows of the night. He's been landing hooks to the the body that hurt Usmanee especially in round 4. But Usmanee seems landed more shots that necessary to win rounds. The fight is competitive but it doesn't reflect to the judges scorecards that's to wide that reads 118 -110, 117-111 and 117-111 in favor of Beltran.

Jessie Vargas UD 12 Khabib Allakhverdiev

Heavily underdog Bryan Vasquez (34-1, 17 KO's) gets his win against former undefeated Jose Felix (26-1-1, 21 KO's) of Los Mochis, Mexico and defends the interim super featherweight title. Felix has been hitting Vasquez with foul blows. and referee Robert Byrd penalized him in round 9 for kneeing Vasquez.

Oleksandr Gvodzyk TKO 1 Mike Montoya

Oleksandr Gvozdyk (1-0, 1 KO) of Kharkiv, UKR, quickly finishes Mike Montoya (4-3-1, 2 KO's) in his professional debut tonight, in the light heavyweight bout.

Oscar Valdez TKO 4 Adrian Perez

Esquiva Falcao UD 6 Ethan Pena

Sean Monaghan TKO 5 Joe McCreedy

Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and undefeated American boxer Timothy Bradley will face each other again to settle once and for all the controversial decision during the first fight.

Pacquiao, according to popular opinion won the fight. Bradley won from the scorecards of two boxing judges. On April 12 (April 13 Manila), at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, both men have the chance to prove who really is the better fighter.

[Also: Pacquiao vs. Bradley II: Early picks]

• The Date: April 12, 2014


• Venue: MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada


• Division: Welterweight

Can Pacquiao continue to rise at 35?

Prior to Pacquiao's UD victory over Brandon Rios last year, the question was: Can Pacquiao rise again? Well, he rose indeed. Pacquiao used superior foot speed -- out-maneuvering and fast combination -- out-landing the slow and predictable Rios.

Pacquiao, on whether he's declining, told during the media work out that, "I've already proved in the last fight with Rios, and this time around I have to confirm it, to prove it again."

"Our mantra is 'Close the show. No mercy," You don't have don't have to be a groundhog to know that Bradley's days as welterweight champ are numbered. It's last call for Bradley on April 12." said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's long time trainer.

Ryan Songalia Rappler's sports editor wrote:

"The reality is that fighters aren’t meant to fight forever, and once that flame is out, it doesn’t come back. Sure, they can blow on those flames and reenergize enough embers to light their cigarette."

Well, I agree. If Pacquiao loses this fight; this could be it for the former eight division champion.

Although Bradley's punches don't have sleeping pills that may put Pacquiao to sleep if the fighting congressman becomes too aggressive and becomes careless to carry out the search and destroy mission.

Is Bradley an improved fighter or he's just exciting to watch recently?

I think Bradley (31-0, 12 KO's), is the same fighter he was before when he first met Pacquiao in the ring. The only thing is that he engaged frequently in exchanges recently than using his boxing skills from the outside. Fighting toe-to-toe made him exciting and entertaining to watch recently. But it doesn't mean he's an improved fighter.

If you look at the first fight, Bradley mixed his approach towards Pacquiao. At times he fought toe-to-toe but he was overwhelmed by Pacquiao's power although he landed too during exchanges. When he got hit with power punches during exchanges; he switched the approached and moved around -- boxing Pacquiao. In this approach he won rounds.

Bradley told on several occasions that he has a win-win fight plan for Pacquiao without hinting what it is. That might include the left hook? During the media day Bradley said, “I’m going to knock him out with the left hook,”

“Not the right (hand) but the left hook. That’s what I’m going to knock him out with,” added Bradley.

My pick:

I think the more Bradley will engage Pacquiao in a toe-to-toe action, the more he will lose rounds. And the more chances he'll get knock out. I expect Bradley to fight more from the outside. And this fight will be more of a chess-match. But Pacquiao's speed will make the difference as he throw fast combinations. Pacquiao will force the action and lands the authoritative punch of the night. But I don't see a knockout here, maybe a knockdown. That being said, I pick Pacquiao to win on points, in a fight that showcase, yet again, the ring smarts of both fighters.

Pacquiao vs. Rios Full fight

Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Timothy Bradley Full fight

Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao injured his left ankle on Sunday evening and will likely pull-out from a rematch scheduled on April 12, with undefeated American, boxer Timothy Bradley. Pacquiao reportedly played basketball as he takes a day-off from training camp.

The doctor that takes care of Pacquiao’s injury told that the injury is severe that he (Pacquiao) needed plaster cast around his left ankle.

“It will take between three days to one week before the cast will be removed and it will take at least a month for the injury to heal completely.” the attending orthopedic said.

Although there is no official statement from Pacquiao’s camp or from Top Rank regarding the decision to pull-out or to reschedule the fight, but with the doctor’s assessment -- it’s no-brainer that Pacquiao will not be able to continue his training, which is now in the crucial stage. And will likely be forced to pull-out from the most anticipated rematch.

Pacquaio lost to a controversial majority decision against Bradley on the first bout nearly two years ago. He vows to show his aggressiveness and killer instinct when he meets again Bradley in the ring.

Pacquiao admitted in his earlier interview that his first love is not boxing – it’s basketball. In his previous fight with Rios, Pacquiao also suffered a minor injury caused by playing basketball. But it was not as serious that he managed to continue his training and eventually won the fight.

Roach was reportedly unhappy about the situation and said that it’s okay to play basketball when the fight is still far… but at this crucial stage of training, if he asks my permission… it’s a big NO.

For the full interview of Pacquaio’s attending doctor… click this link.

Undefeated American boxer Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley told Yahoo Sports that the reason why he injured his feet was because he wasn't wearing socks during the first fight with the Filipino boxing icon Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao. Bradley (31-0, 12 KO's) was on a wheelchair pushed by an assistant when he arrived at the post fight conference. That's how bad the result was, for not wearing socks.

"That's what happened in the first fight. I'm going to wear socks in this rematch, I can tell you that." Bradley said.

Bradley said he went without socks while he was training at his gym, and he stuck of doing the same during the fight but said the difference was in the firmness of the mats.

"My ring has a lot harder surface, real firm, and I was able to do it, I was able to do it and it felt really good and I tried it out. It worked. I was able to grab onto the canvas well and it was comfortable for me, so I decided to stick with it during the fight." Bradley said.

Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO's) who will face Bradley in a rematch on April had the same 'socks' story.

On March 2008 Pacquiao scored three knockdowns in the first round against Marquez on their first fight. He think that in the second round if he throw more hard lefts he will finished Marquez. But because he become too impatient and simply throwing lefts; he missed them and made Marquez recuperate.

Pacquiao,  in his HBO, Yahoo! Sports feature special diary revealed that, "Toward the latter rounds, because I was wearing socks that were very thin, I had developed blisters on my feet making it very difficult for me to move as effectively as I had during the earlier rounds."

"I had to fight more flatfooted than we had trained. After the fight, when I took my boots off, my socks were worn through and they were very bloody." said Pacquiao.