Righting the wrong, the Pacquiao vs Bradley rematch
April 11, 2014, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Manny Pacquiao (l) and Timothy Bradley (r) flexed their muscles at the official weigh-ins for the following night’s WBO World Welterweight Title bout. Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
Branded as an “over the hill” and “ready to be picked apart has-been” by the title defending champion Timothy Bradley, the 35-year-old Filipino boxing hero, Manny Pacquiao proved to everyone, including the now deposed belt-owner, how wrong they were.
Pacquiao’s inspiring performance won him an unanimous decision victory to re-claim his WBO welterweight title.
These days it seems everybody and their brother has some way of taking your photo. Here we see Manny Pacquiao and his coach Freddie Roach making their way to the ring. Photo: David Becker/Getty Images
Besides bringing back the title to his country as promised, the fighting Congressman from Sarangani Province dealt the previously unbeaten and boastful American his first defeat in 32 contests. The victory came as a vindication of that highly questionable triumph by Bradley back on June 9, 2012. To most, the split-decision victory was considered a big mistake.
In the early rounds, with both men resorting to the use of the big haymaker, it appeared the contest might end early. Even though there were no knockdowns in the contest, it became obvious that Pacquiao was landing the harder and cleaner blows. According to the judges Pacquiao won 10 rounds in the eyes of judge Glenn Trowbridge and eight each in the eyes of judges Michael Pernick and Craig Metcaff.
Giving credit where it’s due, Bradley was the better fighter in both rounds four and five, while Pacquiao’s best round came in the seventh when he had Bradley cornered and landed consecutive shots to the head. This onslaught brought the crowd to their feet. For the remainder of the fight, Pacquiao was in the driver’s seat.
Before entering the ring, the popular boxer Manny Pacquiao looks back at his adoring fans and waves. Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
(bottom photo, left) Early on, in rounds one through three, it was Manny Pacquiao (r) out-boxing Timothy Bradley to insure he held the favor of the judges. Photo: David Becker/Getty Images
In both the fourth and fifth rounds, Timothy Bradley made his best showing by way of the right cross and overhand rights to the side of Pacquiao’s head. Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
Bradley, who attended the delayed post-fight press conference wearing dark sun glasses, made the following remarks: “Manny was the better fighter tonight. He’s a true champion. I lost tonight, but I will be back in the gym soon and be champion again. I respect him and his team, they did a good job in training.”
(left) On the break between rounds five and six, it appears Freddie Roach was giving his fighter a wake-up call after noticing Bradley had gained some momentum.
Once Manny Pacquiao got back in his regular groove, Timothy Bradley became frustrated and made this gesture to Pacquiao, “Come on, bringing it on!”
(top, left) Manny Pacquiao is shown receiving treatment for the nasty cut over his left eye. (bottom) Dionesia Dapidran-Pacquiao, the mother of Manny Pacquiao, is seen praying next to her son, as they await the decision of his fight against Timothy Bradley. Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
(bottom) Manny Pacquiao celebrates his victory over Timothy Bradley by throwing kisses to the crowd. Photo: David Becker/Getty Images
Manny Pacquiao waves to his supporters after the big win. Photo: David Becker/Getty Images
Comments later from Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach: “Manny fought well, scoring with the better shots. He appeared hurt though in the fourth, but recovered quickly to control the bout from there. After six rounds, Bradley was no longer dangerous.”
Paquiao’s appearance was delayed two hours. How so? In the final round Pacquiao sustained a nasty cut from an accidental head butt, a cut that required 32 stitches.
A check of the cash register:
- The official purses for Pacquiao-Bradley II were $6 million apiece, according the contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. However, Top Rank, Inc. promoter Bob Arum stated Pacquiao was guaranteed a minimum of $20 million, much of which would be paid out in the weeks after he collected his $6 million check on fight night. Both boxers also earned a portion of the pay-per-view revenue.
- Pacquiao-Bradley II generated a live gate of $7,865,100 from 14,099 sold tickets. There were 894 unsold tickets and 926 complimentary tickets from the 15,919 seats available.
- Among those in attendance were boxing luminaries Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Miguel Cotto, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Roy Jones Jr., Shane Mosley, Ruslan Provodnikov and Mickey Ward, as well as retired NBA players Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller, plus actor Jack Nicholson and comedian Dave Chappelle.
