By Edward Chaykovsky
Former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao is less than two months away from what he claims is the final bout of his pro career.
The 37-year-old fighter will face two-division world champion Timothy Bradley for a third time on April 9th from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Bradley won a controversial twelve round split decision in their 2012 meeting, with Pacquiao getting a unanimous twelve round nod in the 2014 rematch. Both of those fights took place at the MGM. HBO Pay-Per-View will carry the fight.
Bradley will enter the fight with new trainer Teddy Atlas in his corner.
Showtime Boxing analyst Steve Farhood could see an upset take place, if Pacquiao fights in a similar manner as he did in last May's defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"Can he beat Manny? I think it’s all about Manny. We know that Manny beat Bradley twice, got only one decision but beat him twice, and if Manny shows the lack of energy that he showed against Floyd, then he’s very likely to lose this fight. But he was fighting Floyd that night and we know that you can burn a lot of energy trying to hit Floyd and waste a lot of time and energy," Farhood told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
Pacquiao is planning to leave boxing for a full-time career in politics back home in the Philippines. If Pacquiao looks very good against Bradley, Farhood believes it's going to be very difficult for the Filipino star to walk away.
"I don’t know, it’s very hard to say, but I think it’s a very critical fight for Pacquiao because if he does win and he looks good, it’ gonna be real hard for him to retire, to leave money on the table is going to be real hard. If he doesn’t look so good or loses, then we may never see Manny Pacquiao again," Farhood said.
