"Fighting Words" - When Your Best Just Isn't Good Enough

by David P. Greisman

Timothy Bradley is a very good fighter.

He is a two-division world titleholder who won belts at junior welterweight and welterweight. He has beaten two other very good fighters, Devon Alexander and Lamont Peterson, and defeated two great ones, with a close but deserving decision over Juan Manuel Marquez and a controversial and undeserving victory over Manny Pacquiao. He is considered by most to be one of the best in the world today, pound-for-pound.

Bradley is very good, but he was facing Manny Pacquiao this past Saturday, and Manny Pacquiao is great.

Pacquiao is a future Hall of Fame inductee who won world titles in eight divisions, including lineal championships in four. He is 18-3-2 in world title fights with 11 of those wins coming by knockout or technical knockout. Coming into this past weekend, he was 20-5-2 with 10 KOs against opponents who had world titles at the time, had previously held them or would ultimately go on to hold them.

Pacquiao is no longer as great as he once was. He’s still one of the best of today and of this era.

There are levels of talent in any pursuit. In boxing, those levels are demonstrated through differences in speed, power, reflexes, stamina, the ability to take a punch, intelligence and even intangibles such as heart and dedication. Even great fighters lose. Bradley’s win over Marquez came because he had the right strategy, the right style and enough ability to use one to successfully implement the other.

Bradley had one official win over Pacquiao in 2012, though the two judges who had Bradley ahead after the final bell were supported by very few other unofficial observers. Even the judge who had Pacquiao ahead scored it far closer than most others saw the action. They fought again in 2014, and this time Pacquiao came out the clear victor, though that time Bradley blamed a calf injury for an inability to perform to the best of, well, his abilities.

They were different boxers for the third installment than they were for the first two. Nothing is ever the same, not when there are so many variables — time, training and the fights themselves wear boxers down. There are occasional injuries of varying severity. There are distractions. There are changes.

Bradley was in his second fight with new trainer Teddy Atlas after a lengthy partnership with Joel Diaz. The change came after Bradley beat Jessie Vargas in June 2015 but got rocked by a heavy right hand in the final seconds. Atlas, who rarely works with pro fighters anymore and instead spends his time as a television broadcast analyst, pointed out the technical error Bradley often made that left him vulnerable to the shot. Bradley invited Atlas to train him. They got together for Bradley’s win over Brandon Rios last November. There would only be five months to prepare for a far greater challenge in Pacquiao.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, was coming off nearly 11 months of inactivity. His last fight was in May 2015, when he finally stepped into the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr. after years of the two of them talking about it, only to find out that there even are levels between someone who is one of the best of this era and someone who is the best. Mayweather out-boxed Pacquiao, limiting him to fewer punches hitting their mark than lesser opponents were able to land. Pacquiao blamed a torn rotator cuff and underwent surgery shortly afterward.

He sat out the rest of 2015. Even before he returned to training camp, there was talk about retirement. Pacquiao is a member of the House of Representatives in his native Philippines. He wants to be in the country’s senate. Camp wasn’t the only important thing in his life. Campaigning is the other.

Pacquiao’s succeeded despite distractions in the past. Still, there’s an axiom that a fighter who is talking about retiring already has one foot out the door, that he won’t be as willing to give his all in training camp or go through hell in the ring. That possibility compounded with the efforts Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, had put in to try to bring back the aggression that had helped make Pacquiao so great.

He arrived for the Bradley fight in his usual great shape. As for Pacquiao’s success, it hasn’t just been a result of aggression. He’s also shown great skill at commanding the ring, knowing when and how to punch and when and how to move.

He was credited by CompuBox with throwing 439 punches in this third fight with Bradley, less than 37 per round, barely 12 per minute, yet that was more than enough. He landed 122 punches, an average of 10 per round, slightly more than 3 per minute, yet what he landed was more than he allowed Bradley to land. What Pacquiao landed was harder, and what he threw came with timing and speed that, along with his defense, movement and feints, affected what Bradley was trying to do.

Bradley threw only 302 punches on the night, only 25 per round, about 8 per minute. He landed 99 of them, only 8 per round, less than 3 per minute. He was able to win moments of rounds, and according to all three of the official judges he won four rounds on their respective scorecards. Pacquiao, however, asserted control. While Bradley had Pacquiao retreating after a good left hand in the eighth, it was Pacquiao who scored knockdowns in the seventh and ninth, punctuating a fight that already was heading toward a victory for him.

Atlas and Bradley thought they had a good game plan. Having a strategy and implementing it are two different things. It’s more difficult when you’re facing an opponent who is also coming in with his own game plan, who can also adjust, and whose individual attributes can be difficult if not impossible to prepare for.

“He somehow knew where I was going, where I was going to be at,” Bradley said afterward. “Manny was luring me in. He was waiting on me to commit to lunging so he could counter, and then he would attack me in spots. I did everything I can to try to get him to come to me — jab, get out, jab, get out. He was the smarter man tonight. …It just seemed like Manny was always in the right spots. He was just smarter than I was. He was a step ahead of me. I was supposed to be a step ahead of him.”

Once again, Pacquiao beat Bradley clearly. Officially, their trilogy ends with Pacquiao winning twice and Bradley once. Truly, Bradley never figured out how to beat Pacquiao, or at least what he could actually do to beat Pacquiao.

That’s not his fault. It’s just that there are levels in this sport. Styles also play a part. Timothy Bradley tried his best against Manny Pacquiao — and his best still wasn’t good enough.

“Fighting Words” appears every Monday on krikya360.com. Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at or internationally at . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com