Bumaligtad na ang boxing analyst ng ESPN na si Teddy Atlas na numero unong tagapagtanggol ni WBC at WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. dahil pabor na siyang mananalo si Pambansang Kamao Manny Pacquiao sa welterweight unification bout sa Mayo 2 sa Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kilala si Atlas na laging pabor sa halos lahat ng nakakalaban ni Pacquiao kaya maraming apisyonado sa boksing ang nagulat nang piliin niya si Pacquiao laban kay Mayweather.
Sa panayam ni Radio Rahim ng BoxingScene.com, iginiit ni Atlas na bumaligtad siya dahil taglay ng nag-iisang eight-division boxing champion na si Pacquiao ang lahat ng katangian para palasapin ng unang pagkatalo si Mayweather.
“I give the underdog a good chance to win,” diin ni Atlas. “Because if you gotta beat Floyd, you have to have quick hands; Pacquiao has quick hands. You have to have to be able to put punches together; Pacquiao puts punches in bunches, for the most part in volumes.”
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Nilinaw niya na bukod sa mabibilis na mga kamao, pangunahing katangian din ni Pacquiao ang mabibilis na mga paa.
“You have to have quick feet to get to Floyd. You know Canelo [Alvarez] wasn't that slow when he got whitewashed by Floyd, but his feet was slow, he couldn't get to him,” paliwanag ni Atlas. “He couldn't get to those places and Pacquiao has the feet to get to those places."
Gayunman, aminado si Atlas na masyadong mahilig sa depensa si Mayweather kaya hindi niya inaasahan na makikipagsabayan ito sa Pilipino.
“I don't know if it's gonna turn out to be an exciting fight, because let's not forget, Floyd's way is defense,” dagdag ni Atlas. “He's a conservative guy, he's a smart son of gun, he's a careful guy."
