Lederman: Atlas Will Help Bradley Do Better Against Pacquiao

 by David P. Greisman

Timothy Bradley’s second fight with new trainer Teddy Atlas will be a huge one — he’ll be going from facing Brandon Rios last year to having a third fight with Manny Pacquiao. It is the rubber match in a rivalry with one win apiece for each boxer, although most observers had Pacquiao winning both bouts.

And Harold Lederman, who did commentary on the first two fights as HBO’s unofficial ringside scorer and had Pacquiao ahead in each, believes that Bradley will benefit from having Atlas in his corner.

“I wasn’t crazy for the fight. I hope that it turns out to be a lot better than I expect because of the fact that Teddy Atlas is going to add a lot to Timothy Bradley’s game,” Lederman told BoxingScene.com. “That’s the truth. Teddy Atlas is a wonderful trainer. The guy knows boxing. He knows how to teach. He’s one of the best. Going into the fight, I’ve got it 23 to 1 in favor of Manny Pacquiao. Let’s face reality. We saw it twice, and twice Manny beat him up. I have no idea if Manny’s going to be able to beat him up this time because of the fact that we’re going to see a better Timothy Bradley and probably a rusty Manny Pacquiao.

“Freddie Roach has got a lot of work to do to get Manny ready. Manny is telling everybody that it’s his last fight. I don’t believe that. The question is, is Manny going to come in focused or say, ‘Ah, I can beat this guy easy’? So we don’t know what to expect. That’s what makes it an interesting night of boxing. But I think on April 9 we’re going to see a good fight.”

Lederman believes Bradley will need to box more in order to win and should be sure to keep his right hand high.

“I don’t think Teddy’s going to let him get hit with all those straight left hands that Manny hit him with the first two fights,” he said. “Manny’s got a very quick straight left hand. Manny’s always turning you. You can’t stop it because he turns you and he whacks you with it. He’s very quick and he’s very talented. It’s not easy to fight Manny. If you don’t believe me, all you got to do is ask the only one Ricky Hatton.

“The left hand is like dynamite. He’s a southpaw with a vicious left hand and a great right hook. It’s hard to deal with Manny’s skills. Teddy Atlas is going to have to work very hard between now and April 9.”

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