Manny Pacquiao will get another victory to pad an already impressive résumé. Timothy Bradley will get the showcase fight he's been waiting for his entire career. Boxing fans will get left out to dry once again. Those are the storylines ahead of June's WBO welterweight title fight.
After more failed negotiations between the camps of Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, which featured more public jabs than actual attempts to complete a deal, the boxing world had to settle for two mediocre fights instead of the one everybody wants to see.
Boxing lacks star power right now. Pacquiao and Mayweather could literally revitalize the entire sport by facing off, but for whatever reason, likely ego, a deal just hasn't happened. Thus, boxing continues to lose ground to MMA and other secondary sports.
When it comes to Pacquiao defending his title against Bradley, it's tough to make an argument for why the fight is worth buying. “Pac-Man” is in a completely different class than “Desert Storm,” who has never faced somebody the caliber of Pacquiao.
His 28-0 career record is simply a byproduct of facing inferior foes each time out. When given the chance to battle Amir Khan, he decided against it. So it's a weak undefeated record to say the least.
Bradley also doesn't have a style that will worry Pacquiao. Unlike Juan Manuel Marquez's defensive posture, which left the champion without many answers, Bradley will struggle to gain an upper hand in any area of the fight.
Since fights are announced so far in advance, the hype machine tends to make them seem more interesting than they really are. The promoters understand this phenomena, of course, which is why it happens every single time.
Unfortunately for fans, it often leads to high hopes that have no chance of being reached. That's certainly the case here. There's no way a fight with such a large disparity in talent will reach the peak fans are cheering for.
Until the quality of fights improve, the sport will continue to gradually decline, leaving diehard supporters to shake their heads.
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