By Edward Chaykovsky
Johnathon Banks, trainer former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko, is giving Timothy Bradley a very good shot to score a knockout victory over Manny Pacquiao on April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
This will be the third meeting between the two boxers.
The first bout, in 2012, ended with a controversial twelve round split decision in favor of Bradley. The rematch saw Pacquiao win a twelve round unanimous decision in 2014. The trilogy bout is being pushed as the final career fight for the Filipino superstar.
Banks was actually surprised that Bradley was not made the favorite in the prior two meetings. He holds him in a higher standing than Pacquaio.
"I didn’t think Pacquiao should have been the favorite in any of the previous fights. I think Timothy Bradley is a good athlete, I think he’s a hard worker, and I really believe if comes in there and fights Pacquiao, I honestly think that he will beat him," Banks told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"You gotta look at what Marquez did. Although Pacquiao and Marquez had such a good rhythm because they had fought so many times before, they could fight each other with their eyes closed. Marquez said, “You know what? Everytime he tries to fight me, he jumps in to me but let me see if I can time that jump.” Marquez timed it right and I think Timothy Bradley should do the same thing, time the jump."
"Pacquiao hasn’t changed, just time that jump and catch him when he comes in and Timothy Bradley should be able to knock him out. I really believe Bradley can knock him out. I take nothing away from the training of Teddy Atlas, I think he does a good job with his fighters — his corner ethics are a little extreme but that’s Teddy Atlas trying to get whatever he can out of his fighters, and who can blame him for that?"