Bob Arum on Pacquiao vs. Bradley: "That was the best Manny Pacquiao."

Manny Pacquiao may not be what he once was, but that won't stop a promoter from doing his job. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum seems to be pretty excited about Pacquiao's performance in his decision win over Timothy Bradley last month, gushing about the Filipino star's win like he hasn't done for years.

Arum, via RingTV.com:

"It was the best Manny Pacquiao.

"People look at the Cotto and Hatton fights and see Manny as this devastating knockout puncher, which he never was. Look at the fight against De la Hoya, where he threw punches in and out and more punches. That was the Manny Pacquiao that fought Bradley in their rematch.

"The Pacquiao that fought De la Hoya, that's Manny’s big style. [Pacquiao] punches hard; he moves and he is very hard to hit when he wants to be hard to hit. That was a magnificent performance by Manny Pacquiao."

I thought Pacquiao looked fine too. Did he look like he did when he was running through De la Hoya, Hatton, and Cotto? Of course not, but he was a different animal then. The fact that he still has enough to clearly defeat someone on the caliber of Bradley is good enough at the age of 35 considering how many fights Pacquiao has had over his career.

Really, Arum is getting into his promotional hyperbole a little bit because he's trying to build toward Pacquiao - Marquez V: The Final Frontier. I'm guessing we hear a lot over the next several months about how Pacquiao is looking better than ever, and more of those "hunger" and "eye of the tiger" quotes. It's all a part of the promotional game. And, like William Holden in The Wild Bunch, I wouldn't have it any other way.