TIMOTHY “Desert Storm” Bradley’s veteran trainer Teddy Atlas said he sees eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao as the same dangerous, explosive fighter he has always been.
Boxing writer Keith Idec reported that while Atlas expects Bradley to box better in their third fight, he doesn’t anticipate the 37-year-old Pacquiao to be any different from the opponent his ward battled twice when they clash at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 9.
“To me, there’s no dissipation as far as talent. I haven’t seen the talent dissipate. He’s still fast, he’s still explosive, he’s still powerful, he still punches well. He’s still got a lot of those quick-twitch fibers.That’s not just in his hands, but in his feet. He’s dynamic. I haven’t seen any dissipation in that at all, to be honest with you,” said Atlas.
However, the trainer who has been credited for Bradley’s impressive ninth-round stoppage of Brandon Rios in his last fight added: “The only thing that may be different is that he may be more conservative – maybe. Maybe toned down to where it’s still the same level of ability, but maybe used more conservatively. He’s still above most other fighters’ work rates and punch numbers and everything else, but for himself, maybe just a little bit more thoughtful about what he’s doing.”
He believes the shocking sixth-round knockout at the hands of Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth meeting on December 2012 has resulted in the heightened caution shown by Pacquiao.
“I think to a certain degree we’re all influenced by what happens to us,” Atlas said. “And I think that probably has been part of it. I don’t know that it’s a negative. It’s something that could even be a positive for him. The ability of what he does is still there – the quality, the level of it.”