Op-Ed: Why Timothy Bradley won't engage Manny Pacquiao toe-to-toe

It is almost unthinkable to see Timothy Bradley engaging Manny Pacquiao toe-to-toe when they face each other in a rematch on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For Bradley to wander around Pacquiao's territory even in the early rounds would be disastrous if not outright suicidal, knowing Pacquiao's ability to find unobstructed targets at close range.

Pacquiao's accuracy in a toe-to-toe engagement was evident in his fight against Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas in 2009 where he knocked down Hatton twice in the first round and finished him via a stunning knockout in the second round.

Pacquiao likes to engage opponents who enter his territory with inadequate defense and Bradley is aware of it.

It is possible though that he will take the risk to penetrate Pacquiao's lair to score a knockdown similar to the one Pacquiao got from Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.

In his fight against Ruslan Provodnikov last year, Bradley started aggressively and was finding his targets but he got staggered in the early rounds and took a knee in the last round but managed to beat the count.

Roach disputed claims that Bradley has improved significantly since his first encounter with Pacquiao.

"I don't think he's better, I think he's the same guy," Roach said. "He's a good boxer but sometimes he tends to get into a fight, and that's when he mistakes, because he likes to exchange sometimes."

Roach is confident Pacquiao will win the fight, saying he is faster and the better fighter of the two.

"When he exchanges with Manny, Manny is the better, faster puncher, and the better puncher of the two, and like Ruslan was, and he'll be able to hurt him. But if he runs the whole night long, then he'll make it a little bit of a boring fight. But it's hard to a win backing up so there will be points where he'll have to exchange with us, and we're going to have the advantage, I think."

Provodnikov, who is Pacquiao's former sparring mate said Pacquiao should be the aggressor in order to secure a win over Bradley.

“I think that if Pacquiao will not be aggressive, then we will see the same exact thing that we saw in their first fight,” he said, referring to the controversial decision that cost Pacquiao his WBO welterweight title against Bradley.

Having fought Bradley and knowing Pacquiao's fighting style as a former sparing partner, Provodnikov certainly knows how to deal with Bradley.

Most likely Roach, who is also Provodnikov's trainer, will agree with his observation.

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