Freddie Roach talks why Manny Pacquiao passed up Timothy Bradley for fourth Marquez match

By Mick Akers

Legendary trainer Freddie Roach recently told BoxingScene.com the reason an immediate rematch between his fighter Mannny Pacquiao and the boxer who was awarded a highly controversial split-decision win over the five-division champ last June, Timothy Bradley was not made was due to Bradley not being a big enough draw.

Roach’s opinion in this instance is completely off base as Pacquiao would have been wise to give Bradley a rematch before a fourth edition with Juan Manuel Marquez to nullify the first loss on his record in over seven years.

Sure any of the three bouts between Pacquiao and Marquez could have went either way, but as it went down in the record books Pacquiao is 2-0-1 in those three fights, making a fourth bout unimportant and just a financial win for “Pac-Man”.

Bradley is known more for his high boxing IQ and sound technical skills more than his power or scrappiness, which makes his fights not the most exciting displays in the ring.

That reason alone is what kills Bradley’s marketability even though skill wise he is as solid as any fighter today regardless of weight class.

The third Pacquiao-Marquez fight generated 1.45 million PPV buys and sold out the 15,498 seat MGM Grand Garden Arena as opposed to the Pacquiao-Bradley fight that pulled in 850,000 PPV buys and sold 13,229 tickets at the same MGM Grand Garden.

Although there is more money to be made with Marquez, Pacquiao shouldn’t be fighting for money at this stage in his career, he should be fighting for his legacy.

Beating Bradley should be at the forefront of Pacquiao’s plans and if “Pac-Man” is really wanting to fight for the bigger paycheck, then he should do everything humanly possible to land the highly sought after bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. sometime next year.