Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley have competed in the ring against each other for a combined 24 rounds dating back to 2012 without a single knockdown, but one renowned trainer believes Pacquiao will finish his career with a knockout (and this time it’s not Freddie Roach).
Robert Garcia gave his opinion to HoopJab.com when questioned on how he envisioned the rubber match between Pacquiao and Bradley concluding.
“I actually think for that one, I think Pacquiao’s gonna come out and do what he hasn’t done with Bradley before and win by knockout,” said Garcia.
Garcia, a two-time trainer of the year and founder of the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, California, indeed possesses the knowledge of what takes place in the squared circle. But it’s hard to visualize Bradley getting knocked out when he has successfully avoided being KO’d his entire career and has never seriously been hurt by Pacquiao previously.
In fact, many pundits in the boxing world expect Bradley to put on a better performance against Pacquiao than the previous two fights due to the presence of Bradley’s trainer Teddy Atlas, who will be facing the future Hall of Famer (Pacquiao) for the first time.
Atlas coached Bradley to a 9th-round KO victory over Garcia’s Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios last November. Atlas could be heard throughout the fight willing Tim to keep applying the pressure on Rios in typical Teddy Atlas fashion (firemen anyone?) and many feel he will provide Bradley with the added motivation to secure a convincing victory in their third meeting.
Robert Garcia disagrees that Atlas will play a role in deciding the outcome of the fight stating, “I don’t really think there is much of a difference,” when comparing Atlas to Bradley’s previous trainer, Joel Diaz.
“I think Pacquiao’s gonna train hard and wants to look good and impress like he was doing 4 or 5 years ago,” Garcia said. “I think he is gonna come out and win by knockout.”
If Garcia’s prediction is to come true, then Pacquiao needs to impress like he was doing 6 1/2 years ago when he stopped Miguel Cotto in November 2009, which was the last time the Filipino slugger recorded a knockout.
