By Edward Chaykovsky
According to a report in the Manila Bulletin, a deal is pretty much wrapped up for Manny Pacquiao to have a rematch with WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley. A press tour, according to the paper, is scheduled for the first week of February with stops in Los Angeles on February 4th and New York City on February 5th.
The fight is scheduled for April 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Bradley (31-0 with 12 KOs) won a controversial twelve round split decision over Pacquiao (55-4-2 with 38 KOs) in June of 2012. Pacquiao was then knocked out cold later that year by Juan Manuel Marquez, who Bradley decisioned in October of last year.
The rematch will land on HBO Pay-Per-View. The first time around, the fight had a buyrate figure of near 900,000. Top Rank is hoping to reach and/or surpass that number with the rematch. Neither fighter draw heavy PPV rips in their last outings. Bradley's PPV with Marquez drew a buyrate of under 400,000, and Pacquiao's fight with Brandon Rios in Macau was roughly between 400 and 500,000.
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