Atlas picks Bradley to beat Pacquiao

By Boxing News - 04/11/2014 - Comments

bradley7393====By Chris Williams: ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas questions whether Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) has truly recovered from his vicious knockout loss at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez two years ago, and he feels that there’s too many unknowns going into his fight this Saturday night for him to beat WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (31-0, 12 KO’s). Atlas thinks Pacquiao has some self-doubts about whether he can still take a hard shot, and he feels that is going to be one of the factors that will lead to him losing to Bradley.

Atlas also thinks Pacqiao’s hectic life is something that will potentially trip him up in this fight, because he’s got a lot of different things on his plate that he’s juggling at the same time right now.

“I don’t know if he’s recovered from that [knockout]. I don’t know if Pacquiao knows if he’s okay,” Atlas said to esnewsreporting. “And that’s a hell of a way to go into a fight, not knowing if you’re okay. Plus, he’s got a lot of things swirling around, politics, money issues; the squared circle is a tough enough place to be without all those problems. I think Bradley is in a better place right now. I’m picking him to win.”

Atlas could be right. Pacquiao acted like he was afraid to get hit in his last fight against Brandon Rios last November, as he was throwing shots and then dashing backwards to try and not get hit. What happens if Bradley times Pacquiao early in the fight to nail him with a hard shot? He won’t need to knock Pacquiao out to change the outcome of the fight. Just hitting Pacquiao may cause him to turn rabbit and run from Bradley for the remainder of the fight.

As it is Pacquiao is going to fight defensively, but if he fights even more defensive than he usually does, then he’ll be giving Bradley a huge advantage in the fight. The only way Pacquiao can win this fight is if he fights aggressively, and if you take that aggression away then he will definitely struggle. He’s not a mobile fighter, and he doesn’t do well against guys that move around a lot.

Pacquiao tends to cramp up when he moves a lot, and I suspect his cramps will come back in a major way on Saturday night if he chooses to move a lot. At 35, Pacquiao has a lot of mileage on him, and you can’t expect him to win the fight unless he’s able to fight the way he’s always done in the past. If he’s worried about being knocked out, then he’ll wear himself out with needless movement.



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