Naniniwala ang pamosong boxing broadcaster na si Bob Sheridan na lilikha ng malaking upset si WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley sa pagpapalasap ng mapait na pagkatalo sa challenger nitong si eight division word titlist Manny Pacquiao sa Abril 9 sa MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Nakatakdang iluklok sa International Boxing Hall of Fame sa taong ito, iginiit ni Sheridan sa On The Ropes Boxing Radio na kumikiling siya kay Bradley na posible pang magwagi sa pamamagitan ng knockout kay Pacquiao.
“I think that Bradley will beat him,” sabi ni Sheridan. “ I don’t know [exactly how he wins], if the knockout comes, it comes. Right now I just say that Bradley will win the fight, most likely it figures to be by points but it depends on so many factors on the night of the fight and how the fight unfolds with injuries and that sort of things. We’ll see exactly what happens on fight night but I would lean toward Tim Bradley right now.”
Ngunit kahit kinuha ni Bradley si dating ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas bilang trainer, idiniin ni Sheridan na mahihirapan si Bradley bago manalo kay Pacquiao.
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“Yeah, I think it will be a very close fight. Wherever Manny’s head is will dictate how this fight is, and the physical being of Manny Pacquiao,” dagdag ni Sheridan. “I know that he will have himself in shape because he always has no matter what distractions he has in his life, he always comes in shape, with the sole problem with the shoulder that he developed in what was the biggest fight we’ve ever seen, at least money wise.”
Kaugnay nito, ipinagtanggol naman ni Atlas na hindi personal ang kritisismo niya kay Roach sa “Friday Night Fights” ng ESPN matapos sabihin ng International Boxing Hall of Fame trainer na hindi siya gusto ng bagong nagsasanay kay Bradley.
“I have nothing against Freddie. For the last two decades my job has been – and I’m appreciative that I was given that job by ESPN and the fans – to sit at ringside, with a microphone, and break down fights. It’s just like training. Training has certain responsibilities and doing that has certain responsibilities,” sabi ni Atlas sa BoxingScene.com. “And part of my responsibility when I was doing that was when somebody was in the ring, in front of me, I had a responsibility not to be friends with them, not to be anything other than to tell what I thought was the truth about what was happening in that ring and connected with that event to the fans and to the public. That was my job. I was getting paid good money for that. And I took that responsibility very seriously.” (Gilbert Espeña)
