By Victor Salazar
New York, NY- HBO's unofficial scorekeeper, Harold Lederman, saw Manny Pacquiao as the clear winner in the first two bouts with Timothy Bradley.
Bradley (33-1-1, 13KOs) won a controversial twelve round split decision over Pacquiao in 2012, and Pacquiao won a twelve round unanimous decision in their 2014 rematch.
On April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the two fighters will collide for a third time. Their trilogy bout has a new piece to the puzzle, with Bradley now being trained by Teddy Atlas.
Bradley hired Atlas after parting ways with his longtime trainer Joel Diaz last September. They had their first fight together in November, with Bradley dominating and knocking out former champion Brandon Rios in nine rounds.
There are conflicting views on whether or not Bradley had the appearance of an improved fighter under Atlas. Some believe he looked better than ever and others felt he looked more or less the same.
Lederman is among the group of experts who saw Bradley as a new and improved fighter.
“Timothy Bradley looked like a new Tim Bradley with Teddy training him,” Lederman told BoxingScene.com. “The intriguing question is can Tim Bradley deal with Manny’s straight left hand or will Manny pulverize him with straight left hands like he did in the first two fights.”
If there is going to be a knockout, most observers would place their money on Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38KOs) to pull it off. Lederman would not be surprised if either fighter won by knockout.
“The knockout is definitely possible with these two guys because they both can punch,” explained Lederman. “Manny with his straight left hand and Timothy with the right hand over the top. Tim’s very strong, very aggressive and in fabulous shape. Manny is coming off a long layoff and it could hurt him in this fight.”
Although Bradley has never been viewed as a one punch knockout artist, and only has 13 KOs in his 35 fights as a pro, Lederman feels Bradley is more than capable of pulling off a stunner like Juan Manuel Marquez - a direct reference to how Marquez shocked the sport when knocked Pacquiao out cold, from a single punch, in the sixth round of their fourth and final meeting in 2012.
Pacquiao has been inactive since last May when he lost a twelve round decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. He also had right shoulder surgery a few days later.
“You got two guys that know each other, that’s what makes it exciting,” Lederman said. “It’s going to be interesting because Bradley has to make a lot of changes. He wasn’t ready for that southpaw style in the first two fights. Tim has a really hard right hand over the top. If he catches Manny, it could be Manny versus Juan Manuel Marquez 4. Manny’s coming off a long layoff and Timothy looks like a new Bradley.”
