"I think it might be a late round stoppage. I think it might be 8 or 9. I think Manny might be too strong for Marquez," stated jr. welterweight champion Timothy Bradley when asked to share his prediction for this Saturday's clash between pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao and lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Although he's fought the majority of his career at 140 pounds, Bradley knows a thing or two about moving up in weight, having fought several of his own fights between the jr. welterweight and welterweight limits. "The weight is a factor. I am a firm believer in that. The weight is a factor."
In Bradley's opinion, the fact that Pacquiao has been fighting more consistently at 147 pounds will be the difference in this fight. "Manny has grown into 147 pounds. Even though he weighs in at 145 or 146, he's still naturally bigger than Marquez. Marquez is pumping iron and taking protein bars and shakes and all of that stuff to gain that weight, but he really hasn't filled into his body yet," he explained to FightHype's Percy Crawford. "That's water weight, you know what I mean? I think speed will be a factor and in 8, maybe 9, Pacquiao is gonna definitely try to take this guy out of there. I'm a big Marquez fan too, but I think Pacquiao is just too strong right now."
Bradley, who last fought in January, is making his long-awaited return to the ring as the co-main event to Saturday's third and final showdown between the Pacquiao and Marquez. The newly-signed Top Rank fighter is looking forward to making his promotional debut and getting exposure on one of the biggest cards of the year. "I'm on one of the biggest cards, if not the biggest card, this year as the co-main event. A lot of Manny Pacquiao fans and hardcore fans, they pretty much know me, but general people that don't really watch boxing but when a big fight come on, they watch it, they gonna see who Timothy Bradley is. It is a great opportunity to showcase my talent," he added. "So it's a different scale of fighting. I have never been on this stage before."