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Boxing star Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 Kos) of the Philippines has disappointed thousands of fans by announcing his opponent for his April 9th bout. Pacquiao has decided to fight American Timothy Bradley (33-1-1, 13 Kos) for the third time rather than face a fresh opponent such as Terence Crawford of the USA or England’s Amir Khan. Pacquiao and Bradley each have a decision win against each other, but most fans and members of the media believe Pacquiao won both contests.

Headlines around the world claimed that the 27-year-old Pacquiao was robbed when Bradley was handed a very controversial 12-round split decision over him in June of 2012. The scoring in that Las Vegas fight read 115-113 and 115-113 for Bradley and 115-113 for Pacquiao. The Filipino then lost his second consecutive fight when Juan Manuel Marquez knocked him cold in the sixth round just six months later. Pacquiao bounced back with a unanimous decision over Brandon Rios a year later.

Pacquiao and Bradley met for the second time in April of 2014 when Pacquiao won a 12-round unanimous decision by scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110 in Las Vegas. However, in Pacquiao’s last fight, which was against undefeated Floyd Mayweather last May, he dropped a unanimous decision. The Filipino fought Mayweather with an injured shoulder and after the fight underwent surgery to repair the damage. This means it will be almost a year between fights when he steps into the ring against Bradley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 9th.

The 32-year-old Bradley of Palm Springs, California, is the current WBO Welterweight Champion. Since his last meeting with Pacquiao, Bradley has drawn with Diego Chaves of Argentina, beat American Jesse Vargas by unanimous decision and stopped Brandon Rios in the ninth round back in November. Bradley’s only career loss came to Pacquiao and he also has wins over the likes of Marquez, Ruslan Provodnikov, Joel Casamayor, Devon Alexander, Lamont Peterson, Nate Campbell, Luis Abregu, Kendall Holt, Junior Witter and Edner Cherry. Bradley also has a new trainer in Teddy Atlas and has now added more power to his punches.

Even though many fans would rather see Pacquiao take on somebody else, it makes sense to fight Bradley since this will technically be their rubber match. In addition, it’s also for a world title and Pacquiao should feel comfortable fighting somebody he’s familiar with for his first fight since surgery on his right rotator cuff. It’s also a must-win fight for him if Pacquiao hopes to land a rematch with Mayweather sometime down the road. Reports have stated that Pacquiao, who has won titles in eight different weight divisions, will make at least $20 million for the upcoming bout with Bradley.

This could possibly be Pacquiao’s farewell fight, but promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank said he won’t be promoting it as such since he believes Pacquiao may continue with his career.