By Edward Chaykovsky
Veteran trainer Naazim Richardson feels WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (33-1-1, 13KOs) is certainly capable of outboxing eight division beltholder Manny Pacquiao when they collide for a third time on April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Bradley won a controversial twelve round split decision when they faced each other in 2012. Pacquiao evened things up in 2014 by dominating his way to a twelve round unanimous decision.
While many felt the first fight was controversial, Naazim saw it as a very close contest that could have easily been a draw.
"Bradley is big enough, strong enough, and adept enough as an athlete to outbox Pacquiao, very much like he did in certain rounds in the first fight, but got tricked by the public. I was in the room with people at the Pacquiao-Bradley fight and people said, 'It was close, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a draw,' but after the commentators finished saying 'Pacquiao clearly won the fight.' If he clearly won the fight he would have won the fight," Naazim told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
Bradley has already been tagged as a very big underdog in the fight. Naazim will not overlook Bradley as easily as others. He could easily see Bradley winning the fight by boxing his way to a twelve round decision.
Some feel the fight is now a lot closer with Pacquiao turning 37-years-old last month and coming off a near one-year layoff, and the Filipino star had shoulder surgery following last May's decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"Tim Bradley can beat anybody in that weight class. On a good night Bradley can beat anybody in that weight class. I know for a fact that his father instilled a lot of things in him as an amateur. Tim Bradley can fight, he’s proven it and he finds a way to win," Naazim said.
