Unfinished Business: Tim Bradley vs. Manny Pacquiao Part 4 of 4: A Vegas Fire Fight

The concluding result of Saturday’s bout in Las Vegas is not foreign to me or my pre-fight forecast. I do not even have the luxury of ownership of this prediction because many of us considered this outcome with a higher probability relative to some of their other outcomes. However, the manner in which the bout transpired was not anything I could have reasonably predicted.

At times I found myself weaving and throwing double hooks in the air having been drawn into the fire fight which was taking place in front of me yet many miles away. Who would have known that the pursuit of validation would inspire the storm we witnessed. Questions have been asked and on Saturday answers found.

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Peter ‘Kid Chocolate’ Quillin fighting for respect Saturday on SHOWTIME

NEW YORK CITY (April 14, 2014) – Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) middleweight champion of the World, Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin, is fighting for respect this Saturday night on SHOWTIME against No. 2 ranked Czech challenger Lukas Konecny (50-4, 23 KOs).

Quillin vs. Konecny is part of a Golden Boy Promotions event, sponsored by Corona and AT&T, and headlined by the world light heavyweight unification fight between IBF champion Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins and WBA title-holder Beibut Shumenov. The live SHOWTIME tripleheader telecast will begin at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) and be available in Spanish via secondary audio programming (SAP).

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Manny Pacquiao: A man with a satisfied mind?

This past Saturday night, almost two years since his controversial decision loss to Timothy Bradley, Manny Pacquiao was able to claim a well deserved victory over the previously unbeaten Bradley.

It looked like a tough match for both men, but in the second half of the fight, it was Pacquiao that picked up the pace, while Bradley looked like he was leaking stamina as the rounds went on.

But is Pacquiao truly satisfied with his history with Bradley? Does Manny’s victory over Bradley label Timothy as Pacquiao’s past?

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Pacquiao vs Bradley, Canelo vs Lara, and Bob Arum!!

Carter C. (Northridge, CA): I think Pacquiao’s performance proves how good he truly is. I would like to know how you assessed his performance and what would you like to see next from him?

Vivek W. (ESB): Going into the bout, my official prediction was a Pacquaio stoppage down the home stretch, possibly as late as the 12th round. What I predicted and what we saw were two vastly different things, but in the end, the results carried the same weight. I just truly felt that his work-rate and the power it embodies alone would be able earn him a victory in this fight. Bradley has shown us great evolution, but there are a few major flaws within his game that I seriously doubt can be corrected at this stage of his career. It’s one thing to work on a particular set during camp; but in the heat of the battle, a veteran will revert to those tendencies that are deeply rooted and engrained in the brain every single time.

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What’s obvious in Pacquiao vs. Bradley 2

The “Pacquiao-Bradley II” yesterday showed me only two things when I watched it on replay this morning. Let me share them with you as I quickly make this piece to briefly dissect what happened in the “show.”

One is Freddie Roach hasn’t solved yet the problem of his pupil with good counter punchers. It only goes to prove that Manny Pacquiao’s power purely lies not on his ability to knockout a fellow boxer, but on his opponent’s inability to effectively counter punch the “one-two” signature combination of Pacman.

Timothy Bradley was a smart tactician in the fight who suddenly veered from his team’s plan to engage Pacquiao only in the early rounds to test the waters, shock Pacquiao and gain some points, deviating from their original “strike then back off” strategy for much of the rounds. Bradley succeeded anyhow on occasions being “aggressive” all throughout the “passive” slugfest.

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Baltimore Battles at Patapsco Arena Doesn’t Disappoint

photo by hardworkpromotions.com – Saturday night was truly a great night for boxing fans hailing from the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. Hardwork promoter and main event fighter Venroy July put on another exciting card to bring fans drama and knockouts. The venue was packed with people enjoying food, drinks, and the DJ.

Around 7:30 pm the first bout was started as we welcomed Baltimore’s own Travis Reeves back home to take on Santos Martinez. Travis came out pumping the jab and placing good shots to the body and head. Then Travis landed a crisp right hand that sent Martinez crashing to the canvas. Martinez made the count but was unfit to continue in the fight. This was one of the many knockouts of night. Larry Recio from Landover, Maryland scored a first round knockout over Jose Felix in the first round. Edwin Reyes also scored a first round TKO over Chris Haney.

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Fans again asking for Mayweather-Pacquiao – Arum implores fans to “boycott” Mayweather-Maidana fight

Manny Pacquiao looked very good last night in gaining “revenge” over the man who officially defeated him but never really beat him almost two years ago. Still fast of hand and still having real fire in his belly, the Filipino superstar won a wide decision over an aggressive but wild Tim Bradley. But, once again, the talk at the post-fight press conference was of a Floyd Mayweather Junior-Manny Pacquiao showdown: this must-see fight being one that fans have been hoping for, and hoping for, for a number of years now.

Pacquiao told the gathered media that his phone line is “always open,” and that as such a fight with the undefeated Mayweather can be made. Fans, though, gave up holding their breath many moons ago (the fight would have been a true world event, transcending boxing had it taken place in 2009 or 2010) and there really doesn’t seem to be too much hope of the fight being made this year or next – at a time, by the way, when both greats will be aged 38 and 36 respectively; with Floyd being the older man.

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Klitschko: Leapai is an underdog but he can bite

IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (61-3, 51 KO’s) is taking on one of his smaller opponents in 6’0” Alex Leapai (30-4-3, 24 KO’s) on April 26th of this month at the Koenig Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The 6’6” Wladimir doesn’t care that Leapai is small or that he was recently knocked out by journeyman Kevin Johnson. Wladimir is still taking him very serious as an opponent.

This fight might not look great on paper due to Leapai’s less than impressive resume, but the World Boxing Organization chose to rank him at No.1 after his win over Denis Boytsov, leaving Wladimir no other choice but to fight Leapai or end up having his WBO title stripped from him.

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Canelo-Lara to fight on July 12th at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KO’s) and Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s) will be fighting in the three months on Showtime pay-per-view on July 12th from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oscar De La Hoya revealed the information earlier today, and Lara’s previously scheduled May 2nd title defense against Ishe Smith has been canceled to free Lara up for the Canelo fight.

“Ready! July 12, 2014 – Canelo vs. Lara. We are going to give you want you want,” Canelo said on his social media site.

“Canelo official, July 12! We will find out what the kid’s got. This one is for my fans!!” – said Lara.
You’ve got to give Canelo a ton of credit for taking this fight, because he looked totally over-matched recently in his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September.

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Pacquiao vs. Bradley: Tim Bradley Flops in Las Vegas

Heading into tonight’s rematch in Las Vegas it was tough to predict who would come out victorious … continue