Manny Pacquiao To Face Timothy Bradley In Rematch On April 12; Pacman Wants Revenge For Loss to Bradley

Manny Pacquiao is set to officially announce Timothy Bradley as his opponent for his next fight on April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Philippine newspaper Tempo reported that the Filipino boxing icon decided to have a rematch with Bradley instead of going up against less-heralded fighters.

Reigning WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov and Robert Guerrero were also reportedly considered by the former pound-for-pound king, before he ended up eventually picking the undefeated American for his next fight.

According to the report, Pacquiao and Top Rank Promotions will officially announce the rematch next week, which will be immediately followed by a series of press tours in Los Angeles on Feb. 4 and in New York on Feb. 5.

Sources said that Pacquiao decided to finalize a fight with Bradley instead of Provodnikov due to his desire to erase the bitter memory of his controversial loss to Bradley.

Bradley escaped with a questionable split-decision win over Pacquiao in their WBO welterweight title showdown in June 2012 -- a decision that was later confirmed as inaccurate by the World Boxing Organization, who ruled that Pacquiao clearly won the fight against Bradley.

Pacquiao is coming off a unanimous decision win over Brandon Rios in November last year, which put Pacquiao back in title contention after his string of defeats to Bradley and Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez.

Bradley, on the other hand, recently scored a split decision win over Marquez in their title fight in October last year -- seventh months after escaping with a close unanimous decision win over Provodnikov in March 2012.

Marquez was reportedly the primary choice of Pacquiao's camp, but the Mexican turned down their proposal numerous times.

The 40-year-old Mexican expressed no interest in fighting Pacquiao again after his sixth-round knockout in their fourth showdown.

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach recently admitted that the Marquez fight is the best option for Pacquiao, followed by a showdown with Provodnikov, who is also one of his prized fighters.

"I think it would have been a good fight, but [Marquez] said no, and that makes me a little sad because we know that was the best fight out there for Manny. Personally, [between our two choices] I think a fight with Ruslan is better. Bradley would be difficult because he boxes well. I personally saw him winning that fight against Marquez," Roach told BoxingScene.