Joel Diaz, the longtime trainer of WBO Welterweight Champion Timothy Bradley, insists the great Juan Manuel Marquez will be in over his head Saturday night.
“That night, Oct. 12, you’re going to see Bradley put on a great performance,” Diaz said on a conference call to promote Marquez vs Bradley. “He’s going to put a beating on Marquez. Really, I don’t think you’re going to need those judges.”
Keep in mind, it’s the same Joel Diaz who, 7 or 8 months prior to Pacquiao vs Marquez 4, told FightSaga Manny’s recklessness would be his undoing.
Diaz insisted Pacquiao would get wild and leave himself vulnerable to counters and, as a result, get knocked out.
And that’s exactly what happened…. What Diaz inaccurately predicted is the fighter it would happen against, insisting his man, Bradley, would be the beneficiary of PacMan’s overzealousness. But it was Juan Manuel Marquez, a fighter Diaz greatly admires, who followed that script in PacMan’s subsequent fight.
Admiration aside, Diaz doesn’t give the 40 year old fight legend a chance to defeat his against his prot?g?.
“I think Marquez is going to come and try to put Tim to sleep, like he did to Pacquiao, and it’s not going to happen,” Diaz said. “Tim Bradley is a smarter fighter. He is going to be defensive and offensive. He’s going to move and he’s going to complicate Marquez’s day.” Diaz hinted, not once but twice, the bout wouldn’t go to the judges’ cards.
“And in the later rounds, I think after the fifth, sixth round, Tim’s going to take Marquez into the deep waters and that’s when Tim’s going to do the best. You don’t have to leave it up to the judges. Tim’s going to be victorious that night. He’s going to put up a great fight and he’s going to beat Marquez.”
Of all of the possible results, a Tim Bradley knockout is seemingly the least likely. A draw is more bound to happen, according to many.
With only 12 knockouts in 30 bouts and one in his last 12, Bradley is not known for being a KO artist while Juan Manuel Marquez has never been knocked out in a career that spans 62 fights and 20 years.
Does trainer Diaz know something we don’t?
