By Jake Donovan
From the moment it was suggested that Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. would meet a third time, the first subplot that came to mind for many was the potential for an ongoing feud between their trainers. It normally doesn’t take much to get Freddie Roach and Teddy Atlas – the outspoken mouthpieces who train Pacquiao and Bradley, respectively – revved up and ranting, never mind when the focus is on each other.
True to form, words have already been exchanged between the famed cornermen ahead of the April 9 rubber match, which airs live on HBO Pay-Per-View from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, at least one side wishes it didn’t have to come to that – and hopes that it proves to be an isolated incident rather than a focal point on the upcoming fight, despite the belief that such tabloid filler brings more attention to such an event.
“I don’t think it helps,” Atlas admitted during a recent media conference call. “(Who wins) comes down to the preparation of the fighters. That’s where the focus should be on. I didn’t ask for this. It’s what it has come down to do.”
Such a claim will naturally be questioned by those who’ve bore witness to Atlas’ theatrics in the past, whether as a trainer or behind the mic for nearly two decades as an expert analyst for live boxing events on ESPN2 and now ESPN.
That side of the famed trainer came to mind when he first took on Bradley as a client last fall ahead of his welterweight fight with Brandon Rios. Elements of it were featured during that very fight last November, chief among them his now infamous “You’re a fireman!” corner speech shortly before Bradley pummeled Rios into submission in nine rounds.
Still, Atlas has recognized the role for which he was hired by Team Bradley and has remained relatively subdued for the most part. The task at hand is to maximize the fighting abilities of the former two-division champ, such results produced in the aforementioned beatdown of Rios and hoped for in the third fight with Pacquiao, with the boxers having split their two previous meets.
The intention heading into this training camp was no-nonsense and speak only when directly spoken to, but opted to chime in when approached about recent inflammatory comments made by Roach about his fighter – and his own training methods.
“I was approached, and thought it was appropriate to respond,” Atlas says of his minimal yet necessary comments in the other direction, as opposed to just speaking about the fight itself. “I didn’t fire the first bow and I waited a while to respond. I’m not going to embarrass my family or my fighter just to promote a fight.
“If some of those things help a fight, that’s a good thing. If there’s no promoters, there’s no fight. I learned that a long time ago from (Atlas’ former mentor, the late) Cus D’Amato, sometime you have to help the promoters. But I’m not doing this just to sell more tickets or PPV buys. I prefer that it wasn’t initiated and something we had to focus on and talk about. It’s about the fighters, they step in the ring, embrace all the risk and put their lives on the line.”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
