"I think Pacquiao's gonna have the tougher go. I think Bradley is a hungry kid still. He's still got stuff in front of him that he'd like to prove. He's pretty quick, he's pretty good technically, he's very gutsy, and he's obviously got good skill sets. But it's funny to say if he's gonna be big enough when he's fighting a guy that started winning titles when he was 116 pounds. But that is going to be one of the questions, is he big and strong enough? But I think he's going to find a way to be competitive in this fight somehow. I think there is a little dissipation in Pacquiao. I don't know if it's physical or mental or emotional, but I saw him drop off a little in the Marquez fight...I think out of the two fights, Bradley has a better shot than Cotto," stated ESPN commentator and world-class trainer Teddy Atlas, who gave his take on the two biggest fights of the year, Mayweather vs. Cotto and Pacquiao vs. Bradley. Check out what else he had to say!
PC: I have to ask you about the two biggest stars in boxing. Although they are not fighting each other, they do have respectable opponents lined up for their next fights. Manny Pacquiao will be facing Timothy Bradley and Floyd Mayweather will be facing Miguel Cotto. What is your take on both of those fights?
TA: I think Pacquiao's gonna have the tougher go. I think Bradley is a hungry kid still. He's still got stuff in front of him that he'd like to prove. He's pretty quick, he's pretty good technically, he's very gutsy, and he's obviously got good skill sets. But it's funny to say if he's gonna be big enough when he's fighting a guy that started winning titles when he was 116 pounds. But that is going to be one of the questions, is he big and strong enough? But I think he's going to find a way to be competitive in this fight somehow. I think there is a little dissipation in Pacquiao. I don't know if it's physical or mental or emotional, but I saw him drop off a little in the Marquez fight. Part of it was Marquez. Marquez knows how to fight him. Marquez is brilliant. Marquez used timing and not speed to offset his disadvantages to even the playing field in a fight that I thought he won against Pacquiao, and he did a great job. But I also saw less urgency and less fire and less taking of chances than we used to see with Pacquiao, and I think part of that is where he is in life now. He's so rich and so successful, and he has so many other options, I don't know if the fire burns as high. I don't know. I think Bradley is going to have a chance in that fight, but you have to favor Pacquiao. I think out of the two fights, Bradley has a better shot than Cotto.
Even though Floyd is moving up in weight to fight Cotto, that doesn't mean Cotto still isn't going to be at a big speed disadvantage, and that doesn't erase that he got destroyed and completely dominated by Pacquiao. It doesn't change the fact that he took that horrible beating from Margarito. Since then, he has come back and he avenged that loss and he beat Mayorga and Yuri Foreman, but those are different guys. Those are different level guys with different styles and different skill sets. He's going to be facing a guy that's hard to hit, a guy that is very fast, very confident, and even at jr. middleweight, it's not going to hide the deficiencies at defense. Cotto hasn't been the hardest guy to hit because he's not the fastest guy, and where he shows some wear and tear from those fights and all of those punches. I like Mayweather to really win that fight pretty convincingly. He'll be too fast, he'll control the ring and do what he wants to do on his terms and win that fight.
PC: Floyd been put this out there and I kept forgetting to tell you, but he said that HBO should fire Larry Merchant and hire you on to the commentary team over there. I just wanted to let you know that.
TA: Well, tell him I need to hire him as my agent and get rid of the guy I got.
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