Tim Bradley, a former two-weight world champion, thinks it's time for Manny Pacquiao to hang up his gloves. Bradley shared his thoughts after watching Pacquiao's recent fight with Mario Barrios.
Bradley's boxing career spanned 12 years from 2004 to 2016. He held the WBC light-welterweight title twice between 2008 and 2011, the WBO light-welterweight title from 2009 to 2012, and the WBO welterweight title twice between 2012 and 2016. His notable wins include victories over Juan Manuel Marquez, Lamont Peterson, and Ruslan Provodnikov.
Bradley and Pacquiao have a history in the ring. They first met in June 2012, with Bradley winning in a controversial decision. Pacquiao evened the score in their 2014 rematch and won the trilogy bout in 2016.
Now, Bradley has some strong opinions about Pacquiao's recent performance. In a recent interview, he didn't hold back:
"I'm gonna keep it real, Manny Pacquiao's time has been up. You know the fact that he's a special type of athlete, he's a legend, he's able to get in there with Mario Barrios who basically somewhat carried this guy, man, he carried Manny Pacquiao. I don't care what anybody say, he carried him. Yes, all he had to do was step on the gas especially in the middle, the back end of the fight where he's the younger fighter. He has more energy, he could have gave more effort because obviously he got hit with some straight left hands and he was able to take it but it didn't seem like he wanted to."
Pacquiao, the eight-division world champion and Filipino icon, is now 46 years old. His recent fight with Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas ended in a majority decision draw. This was Pacquiao's first time in the ring since June 2021.
In that previous fight, Pacquiao lost to Yordenis Ugas, the former WBA world welterweight champion. Shortly after, Pacquiao announced his retirement, but he's since returned to boxing.
Bradley thinks Barrios, the 30-year-old reigning WBC world welterweight champion from Texas, took it easy on Pacquiao. He believes Barrios could have pushed harder, especially in the later rounds of the fight.
Bradley's main points are clear: Pacquiao's time in boxing is over, Barrios went easy on him, and the younger fighter could have done more to win decisively. Despite his respect for Pacquiao as a legend, Bradley feels it's time for the Filipino icon to step away from the sport for good.
