Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO) vs. Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KO)

Sportsbook.ag Line:
Pacquiao -550
Bradley +350

Manny Pacquiao looks to regain his air of invincibility when he and unbeaten Timothy Bradley go toe-to-toe in a welterweight bout on Saturday night.

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Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO) looked vulnerable last November when he beat Juan Manuel Marquez in a majority decision. It was his fourth straight fight that went the distance. Bradley (28-0, 12 KO) has a chance to establish himself as the next great American fighter, but the 28-year-old is making a major jump up in competition. He hasn’t faced anyone with the combination of speed and pure power that Pacquiao brings. Bradley is a gutsy, skilled fighter who should be able to last 12 rounds, but it’s hard to imagine him out-boxing Pacquiao.

Pacquaio’s camp has compared Bradley to Ricky Hatton, whom Pacquiao knocked out in the second round three years ago. But while Bradley can be overaggressive at times, he’s shown the ability to be patient and, if needed, nasty in the ring. One potential complication for Pacquiao is that Bradley leads with his head early and often, something Pacquiao does at times. There could be a lot of head butts in what could become a choppy, ugly fight.

But even if you believe Pacquaio is fading (despite his 15 straight wins and 28-1-2 record in his past 31 fights), he’s still far more talented than Bradley. The challenger can’t come close to Pacquaio’s speed or power. He has gone up against fighters like Bradley in the past, but Bradley (just 1 KO in past 10 fights) has never seen anything like Pacquaio.

Bradley’s only real hope is that Pacquaio, who is bordering on the twilight of a long career, simply doesn’t take him seriously. Pacquiao is only 33 but this will be his 60th fight, and he has aspirations outside of the ring. This is Bradley’s big chance to ascend to the elite class of fighters, and there’s no guarantee that another opportunity like this will ever come around. He’ll look to survive and counter-punch, and hope he can catch Pacquiao off-guard.