The boxing world remains divided on how to consider the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley III fight. Some trainers have given their insights and just recently, a former trainer of the Filipino boxing icon gave his piece.
Rick Stratheli, a former trainer of Pacquiao, sees it ending in a draw via The Standard. Why? Well, he shares his analysis of both fighters.
As far as Pacquiao is concerned, Stratheli singles out how an aged Pacquiao may play a role. He considers the fact that Pacquiao has been out of action for quite some time due to that shoulder injury and the fact that the eight-time division has been busy in the world of politics as main issues that could take their toll this time around.
On the other end, Stratheli believes that even with Teddy Atlas at the helm, Bradley will still fall short. He bares that while many saw a different Bradley against Brandon Rios back in November 2015, the latter was far different from the man that Pacquiao fought before.
He reasons that Rios was well-prepared against Pacquiao and still lost. Against Bradley, he was hardly convinced that Rios was in shape and readily prepared.
So putting the logic together, he believes that Bradley could be in for another tough fight and such is negated by Pacquiao's age and commitments. And such he calls it a possible draw.
His insights are no different from other trainers who believe that Pacquiao opted to fight Bradley since it was the safer option. As everyone knows, Pacquiao has technically taken back his stance of this being his last fight, apparently not closing the doors (still) on a possible tiff with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The only thing interesting right now is the mind games between Freddie Roach and Atlas. Other than that, not too many boxing fans are thrilled with Pacquiao's choice of opponent — something many are likening to the tactic Mayweather followed when he chose Andre Berto back in September 2015.
