WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley fights Brandon Rios on November 7th at Las Vegas’ Thomas and Mack Centre in what will be his first fight with new trainer and ESPN analyst, Teddy Atlas.
“Desert Storm” made the change and left long time trainer Joel Diaz in the wake of his June fight with Jessie Vargas, which despite him clearly winning on all cards, came to a controversial end right in the dying seconds when Bradley was hurt and referee Pat Russell mistook the 10 second clapper for the final bell.
After an unsuccessful appeal from Vargas – who claimed he was about to stop Bradley in those dying seconds – the Palm Springs native switched from Diaz, the man who had guided his professional career from day one. For his part, speaking recently to ESPN.com, Diaz suggested that Monica Bradley, Tim’s wife and manager, was really the driving force behind the change.
It’s an assertion Bradley himself refutes. Speaking at yesterday’s media event to promote the fight with Rios, he claimed that fighting smarter is the really the key to making the jump to Atlas.
“At this point, I feel like I need more discipline to my game,” he said. “I need to start doings more correctly. Keeping my hands up. Not getting hit with those big shots. Stop making so many mistakes.”
It’s certainly true that Bradley has been in some wars and taken a lot of unnecessary punishment – perhaps most notably in 2013’s FOTY slug-fest with Ruslan Provodnikov, although one has to wonder exactly how easy strengthening his defensive game will be as the 32 year old enters what is ostensibly the Autumn of his career?
Yet Bradley says that Atlas is getting him ready for the rough-and-tough Rios, who will surely be looking to bang away on the inside and stand toe to toe in the pocket frequently, as is his aggressive, brawling style.
“Teddy told me, ‘You can’t use your [guts] in this fight, you’ve got to use your brain. I’m going to show you, when to fight and when not to, to go about it the right way. You’ll fight on the inside, I’m going to show you how to do it correctly.’ he added.
Rios has been inactive since January’s beat down of Mike Alvarado – their 3rd meeting – after a fight with IBF 147 lb champion Kell Brook fell through over the Summer – and has said that he will be ready for a ‘fight’ with Bradley, even if the champion does try to use his smarts.
The Robert Garcia trained fighter, said;
“I know Bradley’s going to come out to fight. He can train to box, but he’s a warrior and he’s going to come to fight. And I’m going to fight my fight. Do what I do.”
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