Atlas Slams Roach: Don't Care What Selfie Taking Freddie Thinks!

By Edward Chaykovsky

The tension is rising between rival trainers Freddie Roach and Teddy Atlas.

The two veteran coaches will be in opposite corners, when their respective fighters collide for the third time on April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Manny Pacquiao, who is trained by Roach, will take on Timothy Bradley, who works with Atlas, in a trilogy showdown on HBO Pay-Per-View. Bradley won a twelve round split decision in controversial fashion when they met in 2012, and Pacquiao won a dominant decision over twelve rounds in their 2014 rematch.

Over the last few months, Roach has been taking shots at Atlas as a trainer. He believes Atlas intentionally plays up to the cameras by creating unnecessary theatrics in the corner. Roach has called Atlas a storyteller who hurts his boxers with bad advice between rounds.

Atlas fired back, ripping Roach over his behavior last May - only moments before Pacquiao traded punches with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the most lucrative fight in boxing history.

As Roach and Pacquiao made their way to the ring, they stopped to take selfies with a phone. Roach later explained that it was part of a sponsorship deal. Atlas is not buying his explanation.

"I don't care what he thinks. I would need a lot of help if I was influenced by what Roach thinks. He's going to steer me with the kind of man I am, the kind of trainer I am. Are you kidding me? I've been in this business 40 years. I've been in the business longer than him," Atlas told Top Rank.

"And maybe the biggest difference between me and that fella that you were just talking about, is that I'm not a guy who is going to be taking selfies in the runway, before my fighter is going out for the fight of the millennium when so much is on the line"

"So yeah, you think I give a frig about that guy, who acted that way, who behaved that way, that I care what he thinks bout me? No, I don't."