Pacquiao must pick up from Marquez showing to beat Bradley

Whilst still comfortable favourite for Saturday night’s fight with Timothy Bradley, 1/4 shot Manny Pacquiao does enter the bout surrounded by an air of uncertainty.

Bradley is seeing support from punters, and has such been trimmed slightly to 10/3 to triumph in the fight, from an initial 7/2 price.

This stems from a sense of tentativeness regarding Pacquiao’s odds, in light of a less than stellar showing from the Filipino in his last outing against Juan Manuel Marquez.

It was the third clash of the fighters, and tactical boxing again ensued as the bout went the distance for the third time, with Pacquiao controversially emanating victorious for a second time.

His success was somewhat tainted, with many, including the likes of former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton, believing Marquez was worthy of the points decision.

Pacquiao himself admitted he underestimated Marquez meanwhile, telling reporters at the MGM Grand, “I think we underestimated Marquez, but we trained hard for this fight. The training has been the same.”

The 33-year-old attributed his underestimation of his opponent to a conditioning of now facing bigger men in the ring, given his ascendency throughout varied weight divisions in recent years.

With Bradley closer to the weight Pacquiao has now grown accustomed to competing against though, the Philippine fighter is more confident in his training regime going into Saturday’s fight.

“I’ve been fighting with 150, 147 and then [this fight] at 140 pounds. I’ve been fighting bigger guys and then this fight is the same size,” he said.

“This fight I am very focused and I am happy with my training and I have peace of mind. I’m focused every day and there are no distractions.”

That final quote will be music to the ears of Pacquiao-backers, who may have been concerned by reports that new-found religious commitments were hampering his preparations.

Pacquiao remains overwhelming favourite to triumph in Las Vegas on Saturday, and should have enough about him to land the victory that could potentially set up a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.