Roach: Bradley same old fighter

MANILA, Philippines – Freddie Roach will keep on saying this until the day of the fight: Timothy Bradley, under his new trainer Teddy Atlas, is the same fighter Manny Pacquiao has faced twice inside the ring.

Roach said nothing has changed and nothing will change.

“Well, I don’t think Teddy Atlas brought anything out of him,” Roach told Boxing Insider way ahead of the third fight between Pacquiao and Bradley on April 9.

It will take place at the MGM Grand, the venue of the first two fights, one in 2012 ending with a close win by Bradley and a heavy cloud of controversy.

Pacquiao was more convincing in the second fight in 2014, and most people felt Pacquiao had won both fights. But since officially it’s 1-1, a third fight is going to happen.

Bradley is coming off a lopsided win over Brandon Rios a couple of months ago. Under Atlas, observers believe that the American has become a better fighter.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, is out to recover from a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and a shoulder operation last May.

Even Bob Arum, the promoter, said Bradley is a changed fighter under Atlas, and that he’d never seen Bradley as good as before.

It’s the reason why Pacquiao chose Bradley, because, according to Arum, the pay-per-view people in the United States thought Bradley is the fight that will sell.

Left holding on to empty bags after months or weeks of waiting were Amir Khan, Terence Crawford and Adrien Broner.

In an interview with Boxing Insider, Roach said Bradley is the same boxer under Atlas.

“I thought he fought an opponent (Rios) who’s fat and out of shape. I mean, you can’t really judge him on that fight,” said Roach.

“The other fighter was way overweight and looked terrible so, I’ll give Teddy Atlas credit if he does well against (Manny) Pacquiao,” he added.