April 9, 2016 and what was billed as the final match of Manny Pacquiao’s luminous career came to a close without the expected fanfare. Much like Floyd Mayweather’s supposed retirement several months prior, the boxing world is not quite convinced Pacquiao will leave the sport. Interestingly, talk of Pacquiao’s final performance in the ring was not the main narrative of the night; boxing media instead was much more focused on Timothy Bradley’s alliance with new head trainer Teddy Atlas.
Teddy Atlas
Atlas talks Pacquiao-Bradley 3 fight
Do you think Bradley won the first meeting? When I first watched the fight in a room full of people and not giving full concentration I thought Tim lost. But having watched it again, with full concentration, I thought Tim won at least six rounds.
Roach not sure if Bradley has improved with Atlas
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum believes that one of the biggest selling points for the third fight between his fighters Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley is the improvements that have been made in Bradley’s fighting style with new trainer Teddy Atlas. Arum thinks that this isn’t the same Bradley that Pacquiao fought in the past in 2012 and 2014, and got the better of in both fights.
Pacquiao lost the first fight in 2012 and won the second one in 2014. However, the general consensus is that Pacquiao was the better fighter in both fights with Bradley. Freddie Roach, the trainer for Pacquiao, says he cannot see how Bradley has improved with Atlas. The two only worked together for the Brandon Rios fight last November, and Rios came into the fight a fat 170lbs.
Pacquiao thinks Atlas has made Bradley more aggressive
Manny Pacquiao likes what he sees in the changes that trainer Teddy Atlas has seemingly made in the fighting style of WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley since he started training him. Pacquiao feels that Bradley is a more aggressive fighter now that Atlas is at the wheel in his training camp, and he’s hoping that Bradley will fight aggressively against him when they get inside the ring on April 9 in their fight on HBO pay-per-view from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquiao wants the 5’6” Bradley to fight aggressively on April 9th, because he sees this as an opportunity to give the fans a great fight for their money.
Rios: ‘This Underdog Stuff is Bulls***!’
Tim Bradley will walk in as favourite with the oddsmakers when he defends his WBO welterweight title against Brandon Rios on Saturday night in Las Vegas, a fact that doesn’t bother the challenger, who alluded to the odds as meaningless – or in his own choice phrasing – as ‘bulls***.’
Rios hasn’t boxed since he destroyed old foe, Mike Alvarado, way back in January, in what was their third fight, although the Robert Garcia trained fighter feels that not only is he being underestimated against Bradley, he isn’t getting the credit he feels he deserves, and still won’t even if he pulls off the win, as was the case against Alvarado, who clearly turned up ‘out of sorts’ that night.
Atlas guides Bradley for title defense on Saturday – Live on BoxNation
LONDON (6 November) – World champion Tim Bradley has vowed to dazzle this Saturday night against big punching Brandon Rios under the tutelage of new trainer Teddy Atlas.
The 32-year-old star has claimed he is a much improved fighter since joining forces with Mike Tyson’s one-time cornerman and that he is unfazed at anything the relentless Rios will throw at him.
Atlas: Mayweather did just enough to win
ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas feels that WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) did just enough to win last Saturday night in his 12 round unanimous decision victory over Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Atlas thinks Mayweather played it safe too much by holding, running and throwing pot shots instead of standing and trading with the hard hitting Maidana. Atlas thinks that if a prime Sugar Ray Leonard was in the ring with Maidana last Saturday night, he would have knocked him out with his combinations and power punching.
Teddy & Tyson – A Few Words and a Hug
Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champ of the world, who now is a boxing promoter, showed up ringside for ESPN’s season finale of Friday Night Fights. Iron Mike took the opportunity to make peace with Teddy Atlas. He said he was sorry for what he did years ago. Apparently, he was referring to a well-publicized incident that occurred years ago. Allegedly, it involved Tyson’s crude behavior toward a young girl related to Teddy’s wife. Tyson, after expressing his sorrow, then hugged Teddy. All is well. It was a release for Tyson, who constantly struggles to turn the corner on his recovery.
Atlas: Chavez Jr. is too slow, too predictable and will get taken apart by Sergio Martinez
(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Michael Collins: ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas doesn’t think that WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has the skills or the hand speed to beat a talented fighter like Sergio Martinez tonight in their fight in Las Vegas. Atlas is one of the many people who feel that Chavez Jr’s weight advantage will be meaningless for him because of Martinez mobility.
Atlas said “Chavez Jr. is a little too slow, too predictable, right down the middle. He’s not hard to hit; He likes to go to the body. He’s not going to get his way with Martinez. Martinez is going to knock him out late in the fight. He’s going to take him apart like a surgeon taking someone apart and just operates on them. I think he [Martinez] has quicker hands, better experience, confidence, everything, the whole package and his feet. Martinez uses his legs real well to get angles and to do his job.”
I think Atlas pretty much summed up my thoughts on the fight in an excellent manner. Chavez Jr. is a big guy and is young, but his whole style of fighting is suited more for the stationary opposition that his promoter Bob Arum has been matching against him up until now. Chavez Jr. is a big slow guy that needs his opponents to stand right there for him to land his shots, preferably with their backs against the ropes. With a big 15 pound weight advantage at times, the 180 pound Chavez Jr. is able to have his way with smaller middleweights and that makes things easy for him.