THE GREAT Mexican boxing trainer Nacho Beristain has come up with a complicated description of Timothy Bradley’s ring style.
“He is the same fighter—with that stinking, fast and difficult style,” Beristain explained.
Beristain, trainer of Juan Manuel Marquez, said he doesn’t see or expect any great change in Bradley when he fights Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas for the third time on April 9.
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It could sound as though Beristain was contradicting himself. For one, how could one seasoned fighter, the reigning WBO welterweight champion, not be a worthy challenge to Pacquiao?
For the record, it took a total of four fights for Beristain and Marquez to crack the Pacquiao Code with a phantom knockout punch in December 2012.
Marquez, by the way, had his own bout against Bradley, which he lost by split decision in 2014.
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At least Beristain did not use a stricter key description of Bradley’s “fast and difficult style.”
Beristain instead went on to explain that Bradley cannot hope to win the April 9 bout unless he becomes “a different fighter than what he has always been throughout his career.”
It’s easy to suspect what Beristain wanted to recommend was for Bradley to be able to adopt a sharp and compelling style of combat. Or, to be more precise, learn and be able to apply the maneuver and timing Marquez used in stopping Pacquiao cold in their fourth fight in 2012.
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Pardon this, but Bradley’s loose style of attacking could also be likened to a lampoon of Marquez’s patented sharpness and skills.
Bradley delivers big thudding blows but, in a stricter sense, these punches seldom carry the sting and snap required to win epic bouts.
There’s a frail link in the Bradley anatomy that prevents him from launching the desired win-win blows with authority.
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Anyway, last heard of Bradley was reportedly locked in sessions of technical arousal and adjustments with the legendary trainer Teddy Atlas.
Does Señor Beristain honestly believe Ted Atlas cannot help Bradley deliver and use a secret weapon similar to the one that slew Pacquiao cold in 2012?
There’s should be a chance to prove who’s right and who’s wrong on the night of April 9 in Las Vegas.