Timothy Bradley Jr. puts his WBO title on the line against Brandon Rios at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada in Las Vegas this weekend with Desert Storm favoured to come out with another win.
However, Brandon Rios is someone he may be wise not to take lightly. Rios is expected to take it to Bradley and be aggressive, a tactic he has been known for since the American boxer has been known to brawl against his adversaries.
On the other hand, it remains to be seen if Bradley will continue his conservative approach and hit when the opening comes. This is largely because he is under a new trainer in Teddy Atlas who takes over from long-time trainer Joel Diaz.
And according to Bradley, Atlas has done wonders for him, saying that he is a changed fighter.
“When Teddy came to camp he challenged me, not what I could do physically but my mental aspect of fighting. He took a book of images of certain rounds I had fought previously. There were notes about what I did right and what I did wrong. No trainer of mine has ever prepared for a fight like Teddy has for me against Rios.”
If this is the case, it will be interesting what changes Bradley is pointing out and on whether he can avoid another controversial finish.
Bradley has been hounded by a couple of controversial wins despite his claim.
Like in his last match, Bradley had indeed outboxed Jesse Vargas but as everyone knows in the world of boxing, a knockout erases all that. And Vargas was almost on the verge of doing so in the last round had the referee not stepped in to stop the assault due to an erroneous belief.
Be as it may, those 10 seconds could have been a big blow to Bradley no matter how many times he claims that he was aware of what was happening and was handling it. Footage of that instance says otherwise and most felt he was ready to go had the referee not intervened.
Against Rios, Bradley cannot afford to let the brawler dictate the tempo and engage in a slugfest. Though Bradley has been known to be a hard-hitter, a “lucky punch” could indeed be disastrous for Desert Storm.
Rios knows what is at stake and he too is looking to upstage Bradley. His camp plans to put on the pressure and take it to Bradley. If such does happen, the tide could tilt in favour Bam Bam.
Hence if it becomes a chess match, Bradley will likely come out the winner. On the other hand, if it turns into a slugfest, Rios stands to benefit seeing how he loves to get it on.
He showed this back in January when he KO’d Mike Alvarado in the third round so Bradley may be wise to focus on his defense this coming Saturday.
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