By Rick Reeno
Top Rank's CEO, Bob Arum, believes Timothy Bradley made a career-boosting decision to brawl with Manny Pacquiao in their rematch on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won a solid twelve round unanimous decision to recapture the WBO welterweight championship.
In the June of 2012, Bradley won a controversial twelve round split decision over Pacquiao. Outside of the widely disputed decision, there was little to be desired from the in-ring action.
In the rematch, Bradley exploded with aggression in the second round and took the fight to Pacquiao. Bradley's strategy made the contest an unexpected fast paced brawl for the next few rounds. Although he tired down the stretch, there was still plenty of action to entertain the boxing public.
"The Bradley who fought Pacquiao the first time is not the Bradley who fought him tonight. This was a Bradley who was very, very confident. He had two tough outings with Provodnikov and Marquez, and he had a lot more confidence in himself," Arum said.
"And he realized something, a bulb went off in his head - 'yeah, I can go in the ring, stink it out and try to win a decision..that's good. But if I go in the ring and give the fans an entertaining fight, then win or lose my value goes up.' And that's true. The value of Timothy Bradley, even though he lost, did not go down - it went up. Everyone who follows boxing will want to see Timothy Bradley's next fight."
