Pacquiao vs Bradley: Juan Manuel Marquez Picks Manny to Win

The greatest rival of Manny Pacquiao's career has unquestionably been Juan Manuel Marquez, the Mexican star he just cannot seem to convincingly vanquish over three fights in 2004, 2008, and 2012. And with Marquez aiming for a fourth opportunity against Manny later this year, he's sized up Pacquiao's next challenge -- a June 9 fight with Timothy Bradley -- and sees his old foe coming out the victor again:

"Tim Bradley will be a tough fight for Pacquiao, but Manny is the better fighter. Bradley is very physical but Manny will win."

Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO) is penciled in to return to the ring on July 14, a date exactly three months after his easy win over Serhiy Fedchenko in April. He says he wants a southpaw to prepare for another date with Manny, but talk of a fight with Zab Judah fell apart quickly after Judah reportedly priced himself out.

Mercito Gesta of the Philippines appears to be a leading candidate at the moment, but there hasn't been that much talk out there about alternative opponents.

Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO) and Bradley (28-0, 12 KO) kick their promotion into high gear starting this week, basically, a month out from their fight. So stick around for some early hype which we'll continue on through the month leading up to fight night. Unfortunately with no big fight this weekend, and the Peterson vs Khan drug testing debacle pretty likely shutting down the biggest fight on May 19, it's going to be our bread and butter for the next two weeks.