Manny Pacquiao vs Timothy Bradley rematch set for April 12, official announcement next week

According to a piece from the Manila Bulletin, Manny Pacquiao will face Timothy Bradley for a second time on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, with a formal announcement set for next week and press stops for February 4 and 5 arranged for Los Angeles and New York, respectively.

Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO) lost an incredibly controversial split decision to Bradley (31-0, 12 KO) in June 2012 at the same venue, a decision so widely unpopular and even disregarded that the immediate rematch clause in place in case Bradley won the fight was ignored, with Pacquiao instead opting for a bigger money matchup with Juan Manuel Marquez that December.

Pacquiao was knocked out in that fight, and spent 2013 on the sidelines save for a November win over Brandon Rios in Macao. Bradley, on the other hand, fought his way into "deserving" or "earning" a second date with Pacquiao by beating Ruslan Provodnikov in a Fight of the Year candidate, and then outpointing Marquez on HBO pay-per-view in October.

For where both men are at, this is the fight that makes the most sense, given Marquez has no interest in renewing his decade-old rivalry with Pacquiao for a fifth fight. This does mean that Marquez, who wants a rematch with Bradley, will have to look in some other direction, or perhaps retire, as he has said he may do.