Andre Ward: Timothy Bradley's desire will lead him to victory against Manny Pacquiao

Andre Ward put on his analyst's cap to discuss the likely April 12 rematch between Timothy Bradley and Manny Pacquiao with On the Ropes Boxing Radio, and says that he believes Bradley will score a more decisive, legitimate win in the rematch:

"One intangible that Timothy Bradley has is his desire. You hear a lot of fighters say they that, 'I'll die in the ring, I'll do this and I'll do that,' and I think he is one of those guys that are willing to go to that place to get a victory, so Timothy came up the hard way, nobody ever gives him credit, he's always the underdog.

"You would think that after he beat Pacquiao, regardless of what you had to say about that win, and after he beat Marquez the way that he did, and after Marquez just came off the knockout of Manny Pacquiao, that he would be the guy, that Timothy Bradley would get the respect that he deserves and he still doesn't.

"That's the material, that's the fuel that people don't realize that push guys like Timothy Bradley to go above and beyond what people think he's gonna do. So to answer the question I got to favor my friend, I got to favor Timothy Bradley, not necessarily with X's and O's and strategy, but just desire, man.

"I feel he has a desire that can't be denied and he has the intangibles that you can't put your finger on what he has. I think he's willing to go to whatever place he needs to go to not lose what he's earned and that's his reputation, that's his undefeated record and the status that he has, so I got to go with Tim on that."

Ward says that he did not see Pacquiao's win over Brandon Rios, but heard that he boxed well, so it's not that he believes Pacquiao is particularly vulnerable or anything like that. He simply believes that Bradley has the ability and the hunger to win this fight.

Do you guys think Bradley will do better than he did the first time? We're talking about a top-level fighter who fought hurt that first bout, just outboxed Juan Manuel Marquez, and is coming off a big year. He's younger than Manny, fresher -- but is he good enough to do it this time? What do you think?