On April 9th, Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley are set to meet in the ring once again, a third fight in a series tied 1-1. The first bout saw Pacquiao control most of the early and middle rounds, with Bradley coming on late. Bradley was awarded a highly disputed split decision. In the second fight, Bradley loaded up with big shots in an attempt to avoid the judges, but fell short and lost unanimously. With the third bout just two months away and a new trainer in Bradley?s corner, fans and media debate on how much different a third bout could be.
In part 2 of my ?On The Ropes? boxing radio interview with Freddie Roach, I discuss with him the upcoming trilogy bout with Timothy Bradley and why they decided on taking the rematch. I also get Roach?s views on Teddy Atlas being in the corner and what difference he thinks that could make in the result. Additionally, Freddie talks about Manny Pacquiao?s fight with Floyd Mayweather and if he could see a rematch happening. Here is what Freddie Roach had say.
Jenna J: Manny Pacquiao has a rematch with Tim Bradley on April 9th, can you talk a little about Pacquiao?s choice to fight Bradley for a third time?
Freddie Roach: Well, coming off the shoulder injury, he got a green light from the doctors but I think that he needed not to be in a real war or a real tough fight. We did say yes to the boy from Omaha(Terence Crawford) and I heard he said yes too, but I think Bob Arum may be protecting him a little bit right now because he may be his next ace in the hole. Crawford is a very good fighter, I like him a lot but I don?t feel that he has the experience to beat Pacquiao right now. We did say yes to that fight but they said it wasn?t available, so we went to Bradley.
Bradley will be a good test for Manny even though everyone tells me it?s his last pro fight and so forth, even Manny tells me that but I don?t really believe it. If Manny ever becomes the senator of his country, he will be so happy to be a senator defending his title. I hope that this isn?t Manny?s last fight ? depending on how he does on the fight of course. I think he will dominate the fight, and it?s the first time in a long time that he told me he wants to knock his opponent out, so that?s good news for me.
Jenna J: Do you see any differences in Bradley with Teddy Atlas in his corner?
Freddie Roach: Well, he wasn?t in there against an in shape fighter that wanted to win the fight, his opponent just didn?t show up. I know that Teddy Atlas is not afraid of firemen or something like that, or not afraid of fire, and I don?t really give a shit about all his stories.
Let?s face it, Teddy knows when he?s on film and he goes into the acting mode. He?s quiet and then all of the sudden he puts his voice on and starts saying, ?Oh we?re not afraid of firemen, we train in the heat.? What the fuck do you think we do? We are not scared of Teddy Atlas, he will bring nothing to the table, Bradley is Bradley.
Jenna J: In terms of Pacquiao?s last fight, how much different do you think the Mayweather bout would have been if Pacquiao?s shoulder had held up for the fight?
Freddie Roach: Pacquiao thinks he won the fight and a lot of people told me we won the fight at the airport the next day. A tremendous amount of people told me that we got robbed in that fight, black, white, no one was prejudiced about it, all races told me that Pacquiao won the fight. In my own mind I didn?t think he won the fight, but I didn?t re watch the fight because I was too disappointed in Manny?s performance.
The shoulder became a problem and he didn?t fight the fight that I think he can fight and I think he can fight a much better fight. I?m hoping a rematch happens, but one guy is retired already and one says this is his last fight, but we?ll see. At this point, I really can?t look forward to it because there?s not enough there to put the fight together again.
