Bob Arum On Pac-Bradley II, Controversy From First Fight, Testing & How Fighters Have Changed

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    On April 12th Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley will face off in the ring for a second time two years after their first bout which ended in controversy.

    Bradley entered the bout a complete underdog who didn’t stand a chance in hell to walk away victorious but was given the decision which left almost everyone ringside and at home wondering if what they witnessed really just happened.

    Coming into the rematch the odds are very different then what they once were and according to Bob Arum will be a very competitive fight.

    “If a promoter like me says the fight is more even you have to take it with a grain of salt,” said Arum. “My job is to sell a fight but you look at what the odds makers have said. The odds makers in Vegas when they first fought said it was a 9-1 fight and not its virtually even money. So you’re damned right it’s a more competitive fight now.”

    The fight may be more competitive than it once was but the controversy will always stick around in the minds of the fans and the fighters. So what can be done to ensure that the judges are able to get it right this time? Will the NSAC appoint highly touted judges for such a big event? One of the most important questions aside from the judging is will either fighter take control and show clearly in the ring that they should be the winner?

    “Hopefully we are going to get better judges but secondly they each gotta fight their fight from their experience and I really think that either of them will really impose his strength on the other guy and prevail.”

    Aside from judging there has been some news out about a dispute between the two camps on drug testing. Bob Arum stated that the NSAC (Nevada State Athletic Commission) will do the testing themselves and they will do the exact same tests that the VADA does on athletes.

    ” Both are clean guys. Any drug testing that’s been suggested, they’ve exceeded. We are working with the athletic commission in Nevada and they say that VADA is not a state agency so they want us to run the testing through themselves but if they do that it will be the same tests as VADA.”

    Both fighters have proven to be great offensive and defensive fighters in the ring but for Bradley he has proven himself even more in his last two fights against Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez.

    “The fighters have changed. Timothy Bradley has proven what an exciting fighter he is on his two victories in 2013. Fight of the year with Ruslan Provodnikov which he won and the great battle with Juan Manuel Marquez another victory for Bradley. There is no question that Tim Bradley is a much, much better, more confident fighter not than he was in 2012 when he fought Pacquiao.”

    Since the controversial loss to Bradley, Pacquiao has been knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez and was written off by quite a few people. After some time off Pacquiao returned to the ring against Brandon Rios and seemed to be rekindling his former self inside the ring by hitting his opponent and avoiding being hit at the same time. Pacquiao fought quite smarter and should he do the same with Bradley we may see a different fight than many people expect today.

    “(Pacquiao can win) By being more aggressive. it’s smart aggression. He has to go in, throw those left handed punches, step with some right then disappear before he can be countered. That’s what he has got to do. That is what made Pacquiao, Pacquiao. What sort of ruined Pacquiao to some extent was the knockout of Ricky Hatton because you suddenly believe that he is a knockout puncher. Pacquiao is not a knockout puncher. Manny Pacquiao’s strength is just hitting a guy with enormous amount of shots and not get countered and returned. Manny Pacquiao has finally gone back to his roots fighting based on his great strengths which is his elusiveness and his style of going in, attacking his opponent and disappearing before the opponent can counter. Rios tried to counter Pacquiao all night and was unable to due to Pacquiao’s skill.”