Squared Circle: Your Viewer's Guide for Pacquiao vs. Bradley, More
Squared Circle: Your Viewer's Guide for Pacquiao vs. Bradley, More
Complete guide to Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley, plus the rest of your weekend boxing action.
By Jonathan Snowden
The action is sparse this week, as most promoters decided discretion was the better part of valor and moved out of the path of the steaming freight train named Manny Pacquiao. The future Hall-of-Famer will enter the ring for the 66th, and possibly last, time against rival Timothy Bradley in what promises to be the best fight of their trilogy. The bout tops a very good card for promoter Bob Arum and Top Rank, one that includes Gilberto Ramirez's attempt to solidify himself as a future headliner in his own right against Arthur Abraham.
Of course, the cupboard isn't entirely bare on the rest of the dial. Showtime is tossing their hat in the ring as they continue to introduce American fans to the new wave of British heavyweights. Overall, it's a great weekend of fights. As a boxing fan, it seems like a given you'll be watching. But if you're on the fence, here are some things to consider.
What follows is a rundown of every boxing card televised in English on American television. Who's worth checking out and who can you skip to binge watch Bosch on Amazon Prime? Who's likely to win—and why? You'll find that here, weekly, in this new running series.
Key Info
Date: April 9th
Network: Showtime
Promoter:Matchroom Boxing
Undercard bouts: None on US TV, but various internet streams may provide a plethora of title fights like Lee Selby/Eric Hunter and Matthew Macklin/Brian Rose
Interest Level: Does it get higher?
The heavyweight division has been a disaster for years, and this fight for the IBF Heavyweight title will, at minimum, clearly establish one young fighter as an emerging star. Martin carries the belt, having won it this past January in a fight decided by the ligaments of Vyacheslav Glazkov’s knees rather than power punches. Title belt or not, he's the B-side here.
Joshua, despite being largely untested, sells tickets and pay per views already. He’s the guy carrying the promotion. And he’s also really good. For a comparison point, look to Lennox Lewis/Razor Ruddock, a one sided demolition that made Lennox into a minor star stateside and propelled his run to heavyweight dominance.
Martin is a dangerous opponent. He's roughl Joshua’s size and provides the additional challenge of a southpaw stance. He's also totally untested against top flight competition, and Joshua has looked like a beast generally fighting better men. Because of the dearth of film on this, it might be seen as a risky bet, but the Olympic Gold Medalist and all around machine of destruction will probably make a leap in notoriety on this evening rather than fall backwards.
Key Info
Date: April 9th
Network: HBO PPV
Promoter: Top Rank
Interest Level: High
(Because of the lack of boxing this week, we'll take a look at the top three bouts on this pay-per-view card, working from the headliner backwards).
This is a strange rubber match, as rubber matches go, because almost no one believes it's necessary. Sure, the record books say that they have split two fights. But almost every pundit and fan would tell you that Manny clearly won both. To believe that Bradley will win this fight, despite failing on two previous occasions, one must believe both that Manny is demonstrably worse and Tim Bradley is clearly better.
The case is there if you squint hard enough. Bradley looked great against Brandon Rios. He's younger and, despite a number of brutal fights, ostensibly in the prime of his career. Pacquiao, in turn, looked like the worst version of himself against Floyd Mayweather Jr. He's 37 years old, coming off a shoulder injury, and pulled a million different directions because of his world wide fame.
Is it enough for a different outcome this time around? Judging by the silence on social media, most fans haven't been converted into believers.
Bradley is now trained by Teddy Atlas, a trainer at best described as “colorful” and, at worst, a miserable failure. Atlas simply hasn’t found any real degree of success since Michael Moorer’s short run to heavyweight glory roughly 20 years ago. Even then, Atlas was the star via his exaggerated corner work; Moorer was just the unwitting straight man.
Manny's supposed decline is predicated on two things: a lack of knockouts in recent years and a loss to Mayweather. While everyone loses to Mayweather, there may be something to Pacquiao's decline in power punching.
Since blowing up Antonio Margarito’s orbital, Manny’s commitment to the finish doesn’t seem to be what it once was. Of course, despite the dearth of knockouts, Pacquiao has put fighters on the canvas repeatedly. Chris Algieri seeing the final bell in Macau was more about the referee giving him opportunities when none existed than it was Manny lacking killer instinct.
The wise choice is to go with Manny. People expect him to win because he has won before in this exact situation, and there’s no real reason to believe he is washed up. Another 117-111 victory will provide Manny with ammunition that his surgically repaired shoulder is healed and better than ever. A stoppage would be enormous for his self confidence as well as the prospect of fights against Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, or yes, Money Mayweather.
Tim Bradley, on the other hand, never became a real star after “beating” Manny, and doing it legitimately now wouldn’t make him one either. That is something the judges are just as aware of as the promoters.
Gilberto Ramirez (33-0, 24 KOs) vs. Arthur Abraham (44-4, 29 KOs)
Interest Level: High
Let's journey back in time to set this one up. The year was 2009, and there were two big names in the middleweight division. One was the unified and consensus champion, Top Rank promoted Kelly Pavlik. The top contender was Arthur Abraham, a German boxer of Armenian descent who had obtained the IBF belt and begun to rack up multiple emphatic knockout wins on Showtime.
Pavlik lashed out at critics who suggested Abraham was his best potential competition and derided his victories as essentially meaningless because they had not happened on HBO. Pavlik wound up disappearing into a void shortly thereafter, reappearing long enough to lose the linear middleweight crown to Sergio Martinez before countless poor choices derailed his career and sent him into an early retirement. Abraham, on the other hand, has had a fruitful career, competing in the Super 6 tournament and winning a world title at 168 pounds.
And so the story comes to the modern day. Ramirez is a new Top Rank promoted puncher with exactly the same dimensions as Kelly Pavlik (6’ 2 ½’’, 75” reach). Abraham is, of course, older. His prime has passed, and while he’s a belt holder in the fractured super middleweight division, the 36 year old found himself in very deep against the likes of Paul Smith less than two years ago and engaged in a spirited 4 round series of fights with Robert Stieglitz. His career pinnacle - the knockout of Jermain Taylor - is now so far in the past that Taylor is now recognized more for erratic behavior than for boxing.
Ramirez hasn’t fought anyone remotely approaching Abraham’s class, even after 33 contests as a professional. While this concerns many, and it should, Abraham’s style (predicated on counter punching from a high defensive shell) has becoming increasingly less effective as time has gone on and his reflexes and hand speed have degraded. This makes him vulnerable to a taller, rangy fighter such as Ramirez (who is five inches taller than Abraham). Ramirez losing here would be seen as a colossal failure on his and his team’s part. While I think Abraham has something left for others, Ramirez will probably be able to manage a win. And judging by some of his KOs, it could be something spectacular.
Main Event Prediction: Ramirez by 6th Round KO
Oscar Valdez (18-0, 16 KOs) vs. Evgeny Gradovich (21-1-1, 9 KOs)
Interest Level: Medium
Evgeny Gradovich, ex-world titlist, is too good of a fighter to be called a cab driver. Thus this isn’t the classic "Saturday Night Cab Driver Execution." But make no mistake—this is still an execution in the making.
Gradovich has no defense at all and attempts to overwhelm opposition with a varied offensive attack relying on volume. Valdez is a murderous puncher who will have no problem whatsoever finding Gradovich’s face with his shots. Gradovich will be a live dog and has too much pride not to give it his all. He’ll be in there until he isn't—for better or worse.
Main Event Prediction: Valdez by 8th Round KO
The action is sparse this week, as most promoters decided discretion was the better part of valor and moved out of the path of the steaming freight train named Manny Pacquiao. The future Hall-of-Famer will enter the ring for the 66th, and possibly last, time against rival Timothy Bradley in what promises to be the best fight of their trilogy. The bout tops a very good card for promoter Bob Arum and Top Rank, one that includes Gilberto Ramirez's attempt to solidify himself as a future headliner in his own right against Arthur Abraham.
Of course, the cupboard isn't entirely bare on the rest of the dial. Showtime is tossing their hat in the ring as they continue to introduce American fans to the new wave of British heavyweights. Overall, it's a great weekend of fights. As a boxing fan, it seems like a given you'll be watching. But if you're on the fence, here are some things to consider.
What follows is a rundown of every boxing card televised in English on American television. Who's worth checking out and who can you skip to binge watch Bosch on Amazon Prime? Who's likely to win—and why? You'll find that here, weekly, in this new running series.
Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) vs. Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs)
Key Info
Date: April 9th
Network: Showtime
Promoter:Matchroom Boxing
Undercard bouts: None on US TV, but various internet streams may provide a plethora of title fights like Lee Selby/Eric Hunter and Matthew Macklin/Brian Rose
Interest Level: Does it get higher?
The heavyweight division has been a disaster for years, and this fight for the IBF Heavyweight title will, at minimum, clearly establish one young fighter as an emerging star. Martin carries the belt, having won it this past January in a fight decided by the ligaments of Vyacheslav Glazkov’s knees rather than power punches. Title belt or not, he's the B-side here.
Joshua, despite being largely untested, sells tickets and pay per views already. He’s the guy carrying the promotion. And he’s also really good. For a comparison point, look to Lennox Lewis/Razor Ruddock, a one sided demolition that made Lennox into a minor star stateside and propelled his run to heavyweight dominance.
Martin is a dangerous opponent. He's roughl Joshua’s size and provides the additional challenge of a southpaw stance. He's also totally untested against top flight competition, and Joshua has looked like a beast generally fighting better men. Because of the dearth of film on this, it might be seen as a risky bet, but the Olympic Gold Medalist and all around machine of destruction will probably make a leap in notoriety on this evening rather than fall backwards.
Main Event Prediction: Anthony Joshua by 3rd Round KO
Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) vs. Timothy Bradley (31-1-1, 13 KOs)
Key Info
Date: April 9th
Network: HBO PPV
Promoter: Top Rank
Interest Level: High
(Because of the lack of boxing this week, we'll take a look at the top three bouts on this pay-per-view card, working from the headliner backwards).
This is a strange rubber match, as rubber matches go, because almost no one believes it's necessary. Sure, the record books say that they have split two fights. But almost every pundit and fan would tell you that Manny clearly won both. To believe that Bradley will win this fight, despite failing on two previous occasions, one must believe both that Manny is demonstrably worse and Tim Bradley is clearly better.
The case is there if you squint hard enough. Bradley looked great against Brandon Rios. He's younger and, despite a number of brutal fights, ostensibly in the prime of his career. Pacquiao, in turn, looked like the worst version of himself against Floyd Mayweather Jr. He's 37 years old, coming off a shoulder injury, and pulled a million different directions because of his world wide fame.
Is it enough for a different outcome this time around? Judging by the silence on social media, most fans haven't been converted into believers.
Bradley is now trained by Teddy Atlas, a trainer at best described as “colorful” and, at worst, a miserable failure. Atlas simply hasn’t found any real degree of success since Michael Moorer’s short run to heavyweight glory roughly 20 years ago. Even then, Atlas was the star via his exaggerated corner work; Moorer was just the unwitting straight man.
Manny's supposed decline is predicated on two things: a lack of knockouts in recent years and a loss to Mayweather. While everyone loses to Mayweather, there may be something to Pacquiao's decline in power punching.
Since blowing up Antonio Margarito’s orbital, Manny’s commitment to the finish doesn’t seem to be what it once was. Of course, despite the dearth of knockouts, Pacquiao has put fighters on the canvas repeatedly. Chris Algieri seeing the final bell in Macau was more about the referee giving him opportunities when none existed than it was Manny lacking killer instinct.
The wise choice is to go with Manny. People expect him to win because he has won before in this exact situation, and there’s no real reason to believe he is washed up. Another 117-111 victory will provide Manny with ammunition that his surgically repaired shoulder is healed and better than ever. A stoppage would be enormous for his self confidence as well as the prospect of fights against Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, or yes, Money Mayweather.
Tim Bradley, on the other hand, never became a real star after “beating” Manny, and doing it legitimately now wouldn’t make him one either. That is something the judges are just as aware of as the promoters.
Main Event Prediction: Pacquiao by Unanimous Decision
Gilberto Ramirez (33-0, 24 KOs) vs. Arthur Abraham (44-4, 29 KOs)
Interest Level: High
Let's journey back in time to set this one up. The year was 2009, and there were two big names in the middleweight division. One was the unified and consensus champion, Top Rank promoted Kelly Pavlik. The top contender was Arthur Abraham, a German boxer of Armenian descent who had obtained the IBF belt and begun to rack up multiple emphatic knockout wins on Showtime.
Pavlik lashed out at critics who suggested Abraham was his best potential competition and derided his victories as essentially meaningless because they had not happened on HBO. Pavlik wound up disappearing into a void shortly thereafter, reappearing long enough to lose the linear middleweight crown to Sergio Martinez before countless poor choices derailed his career and sent him into an early retirement. Abraham, on the other hand, has had a fruitful career, competing in the Super 6 tournament and winning a world title at 168 pounds.
And so the story comes to the modern day. Ramirez is a new Top Rank promoted puncher with exactly the same dimensions as Kelly Pavlik (6’ 2 ½’’, 75” reach). Abraham is, of course, older. His prime has passed, and while he’s a belt holder in the fractured super middleweight division, the 36 year old found himself in very deep against the likes of Paul Smith less than two years ago and engaged in a spirited 4 round series of fights with Robert Stieglitz. His career pinnacle - the knockout of Jermain Taylor - is now so far in the past that Taylor is now recognized more for erratic behavior than for boxing.
Ramirez hasn’t fought anyone remotely approaching Abraham’s class, even after 33 contests as a professional. While this concerns many, and it should, Abraham’s style (predicated on counter punching from a high defensive shell) has becoming increasingly less effective as time has gone on and his reflexes and hand speed have degraded. This makes him vulnerable to a taller, rangy fighter such as Ramirez (who is five inches taller than Abraham). Ramirez losing here would be seen as a colossal failure on his and his team’s part. While I think Abraham has something left for others, Ramirez will probably be able to manage a win. And judging by some of his KOs, it could be something spectacular.
Main Event Prediction: Ramirez by 6th Round KO
Oscar Valdez (18-0, 16 KOs) vs. Evgeny Gradovich (21-1-1, 9 KOs)
Interest Level: Medium
Evgeny Gradovich, ex-world titlist, is too good of a fighter to be called a cab driver. Thus this isn’t the classic "Saturday Night Cab Driver Execution." But make no mistake—this is still an execution in the making.
Gradovich has no defense at all and attempts to overwhelm opposition with a varied offensive attack relying on volume. Valdez is a murderous puncher who will have no problem whatsoever finding Gradovich’s face with his shots. Gradovich will be a live dog and has too much pride not to give it his all. He’ll be in there until he isn't—for better or worse.
Main Event Prediction: Valdez by 8th Round KO