Bradley won’t rush vs Pacquiao, says trainer Atlas

Photo from Top Rank

HOLLYWOOD — Teddy Atlas isn’t looking for a knockout this time. He’ll settle for a decision win by Timothy Bradley over Manny Pacquiao on April 9.

The articulate trainer isn’t even looking at the welterweight bout in its entirety. He’s trying to break it into segments.

“Three minutes at a time,” Atlas said Friday on how he intends to coax and guide Bradley to a vengeful victory over Pacquiao, his tormentor in their 2014 rematch.

To accomplish that, however, Atlas said Bradley needs to be completely focus and totally concentrated on fight night at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Atlas, of course, is aware of Pacquiao’s lofty ring status even if he’s already 37 years old.

“He’s a freakish athlete,” Atlas described Pacquiao. “The right shoulder injuy has completely healed. He’s a rare combination of speed and power. Extraordinarily great.”

But even the great ones will eventually tumble and Atlas could only hope that Pacquiao’s downfall will come against Bradley.

Atlas offered a vivid description of the Pacquiao express train that got derailed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. last May 2.

“It’s the biggest thing in the carnival,” said Atlas. “You had awe and when you get on it a couple of times you realize that it was not quite the monstrous thing you thought it was or later see that it isn’t quite touch the sky and it doesn’t go 100 miles and hour.”

Simply put, Atlas finds Paccquiao intimidatng, but not dominating, at this stage of his two-decade career.