SPEED KING | Manny Pacquiao has and will always have a speed advantage (Photo : Jhay Oh Otamias)
While much has been said about eight-division world champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao's returning knockout power, it isn't the end-all, be-all solution to defeating American Timothy "The Desert Storm" Bradley in a third bout to settle the score once and for all.
For Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KO's), it isn't power that will carry him to victory, but speed. In Pacquiao's 21-year professional boxing career, power has merely been the product, speed has always been the delivery. Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KO's) is nowhere near as fast as the Filipino ring icon, and that's what the American will struggle to cope with when the pair climb the ring on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
If Pacquiao wants to be assured of victory, he must refrain from chasing a knockout, but let the knockout come to him naturally by using the speed which was bestowed upon him.
The 12-round welterweight tiff is a non-title affair, after Bradley dropped the vacant 147-pound WBO strap he won fighting Brandon Rios last November.
Pacquiao's long-time head coach, Freddie Roach who himself was a professional boxer earlier in his career, revealed recently that for the first time in a while, Pacquiao came to him with the intent on getting prepared with the tools necessary to knock out Bradley.
But Bradley has never been stopped in his entire professional career as a pugilist, which spans over a decade of tough battles. At his best, Bradley is a rough, rugged and durable fighter with an impervious chin and an unbreakable will.
And it's not just the fact that Bradley has never been knocked out, which is a feat in and of itself, but in instances when Bradley would get his clock cleaned, he always finds a way to dig deep and finds a way to win however unlikely. It's this indomitable fighting spirit that has gotten Bradley through tough fights against the likes of Ruslan Provodnikov and Pacquiao before.
But one thing Pacquiao has always had an edge over Bradley is speed, and if Pacquiao stays true to form, blazing a trail of combinations while utilizing his trademark speed, Bradley has no chance. The American will always be a step behind.
Pacquiao has made a career out of outgunning opponents and beating them to the punch, and if this Bradley bout is indeed his last which he claims so, then utilizing his speed to earn him the victory seems only fitting.
And if Pacquiao uses his speed correctly, then there's a chance the knockout could present itself.
