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Freddie Roach taunts Teddy Atlas, says Pacman would fight Bradley 'tomorrow'

Freddie Roach taunts Teddy Atlas, says Pacman would fight Bradley 'tomorrow'

Freddie Roach is getting WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto ready for a big fight, but it appears as if the Hall of Fame trainer is angling for a fight himself.

Roach, who will lead Cotto against Canelo Alvarez on Saturday, ridiculed rival trainer and ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas when discussing potential opponents for what is expected to be Manny Pacquiao's final fight on April 9.

Promoter Bob Arum has sent tapes of 2014 Fighter of the Year Terence Crawford, Amir Khan and Timothy Bradley to Pacquiao to watch to see whom Pacquiao wants to fight. Pacquiao manager Michael Koncz took the tapes to Israel, where Pacquiao is on vacation, Arum said.

"Hopefully, there will be divine intervention and he'll pick the right one," Arum said, jokingly.

Asked by Yahoo Sports Monday his opinion, Roach seemed to favor Crawford.

"I know he told me about Terence Crawford, and I said that's not a problem," Roach said. "I like Crawford. He's a good fighter; a good young fighter. I think Manny can beat him. I didn't get the other two names [being considered] but I'm sure Amir Khan is in there. I think Crawford is a better fight for us than Amir Khan at this point because Crawford will fight a little bit more and Amir will run a little bit more. But who's the third one?"

Timothy Bradley Jr. (middle) arrives at the Wynn Las Vegas for media interviews with his father, Tim (L) and trainer Teddy Atlas (R). (Chris Farina/Top Rank)
Timothy Bradley Jr. (middle) arrives at the Wynn Las Vegas for media interviews with his father, Tim (L) and trainer Teddy Atlas (R). (Chris Farina/Top Rank)

Reminded that it was Bradley, coming off a nice stoppage over Brandon Rios on Oct. 24, Roach had no hesitaton.

"Oh, Bradley?" Roach said. "We'll fight him tomorrow."

Now, Pacquiao has split two fights with Bradley, though most experts believe he won both. But Roach's comment seemed more directed at Atlas, who took over as Bradley's trainer in the summer.

Atlas went on an epic rant during the middle of the fight with Rios, shouting at Bradley between the seventh and eighth rounds of a fight he was winning easily. Bradley went on to win by ninth-round TKO.

"Your concentration is weaving a little bit," Atlas told Bradley. "Pick it up. Pick it up. PICK IT UP! No going straight at him. Bend your knees and be strong on the inside and go around him. Let's control the outside. Look, the fire is coming. Are you ready for the fire? Because we're firemen. WE ARE FIREMEN! The heat doesn't bother us! We live in the heat. We train in the heat. That tells us we're ready. We're at home. We're where we are supposed to be. Flames don't intimidate us. What do we do? We control the flames. WE CONTROL THEM! We move the flames where we want to, and then we extinguish them."

Roach apparently saw that, and wasn't too impressed.

He took a few none-too-subtle jabs at Atlas as he said he'd be happy for Pacquiao to face Bradley again.

"Even though he has the greatest coach in the world, we're not afraid of him," Roach said. "They better bring more than a [expletive] fireman to the fight."

Roach has won the Eddie Futch Award, emblematic of the Trainer of the Year as chosen by the Boxing Writers Association of America, six times. Atlas, who has been mostly a broadcaster for the last decade or so, won it in 1994 and is regarded by many as one of the top trainers in the sport.