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Pacquiao vs Bradley III: Teddy Atlas on relationship with Bradley, says he's never criticized Pacquiao

Teddy Atlas talks Pacquiao-Bradley III, his relationship with Tim Bradley, and his past criticism -- or not -- of Manny Pacquiao.

On why he's training again

"My daughter reminded me and my son reminded me -- I'm very blessed, I've got two beautiful children -- they said, 'You used to be a teacher, dad. Teachers teach. They don't just look at it, they teach.' I got disappointed by a few people in the business a little bit. It's a great business, a great sport, but sometimes people can disappoint you. Last time I did this was with Povetkin, and we won the heavyweight title, but, you know, I got disappointed."

On Timothy Bradley not looking ahead

"Timmy doesn't need a conversation. Timmy's a real pro. He's a five-time world champion. He knows where his concentration has to be. On the fight at hand, on the fight at hand, on the fight at hand. They say this is the most important fight. Yeah, it is. But you know what was the most important fight before this? The Rios fight. Without the Rios fight, we don't have this fight. So every fight is the most important fight. The fight at hand. Without that, you don't go to the next step.

"We're not baseball players, we're not basketball players, we're not football players. They're all great. But you know what, they lose a game, they play the next day, they play the next week. Not here. Not here. You're not afforded that luxury. So you better not look ahead."

On Bradley's past injuries and avoiding that

"We already took a step. I can't believe you're asking this question. I hope to God that we can do the right thing. I always hope, and I hope I do my job and I don't fail my fighter. But I think we took a step toward that in the Rios fight. I think we took a step in becoming tighter technically, becoming better technically. And listen, that doesn't mean that, uh, what's his name that was the trainer before -- Joel Diaz did a good job. He made him a five-time world champion. He did a terrific job. But for whatever reason -- it's not all one person -- but for whatever reason, in his later fights, he started becoming a little available for big shots. For whatever reason! And we needed to correct that, and we worked very hard to correct that. Very hard. And hopefully it continues to show. I hope to God it does."

On whether he'll be with Bradley regardless of outcome

"I just wanna win this fight, I just wanna do my job and help Timmy and his family fulfill what they want, which is to win this fight and have that memory to share with their family, and I'll have it to share with mine, too. That's what this is about. To have that history. I just hope that I don't fail my job and we can have that. But I'm not thinking beyond that. At the end of the day, I can tell you this, if this helps you: I'm always with Timmy Bradley. I'll always be with him. One way or the other. Because I believe in him and I just care a lot about him and his family. He's earned that from me. He deserves that."

On this being Pacquiao's last fight

"How am I supposed to answer this? I think he's gonna be the best he can be, because he's gonna be motivated to be the best he can be, to go out the door -- he's gonna be motivated. Listen, if you were gonna be going away after today, taking these pictures, wouldn't you make sure these are your best pictures you ever took? Damn right you would! Darn right you would! And so is Manny."

On past Pacquiao criticism and whether there's personal dislike

"I don't understand what you're saying. You look like a guy who's always looking to throw something in there that's controversial. I've got to be honest. And I hate to see that from you. Why would you have that meanness in you? I hate to see it, because we've been very good to you. Even though you're a Denver Broncos fan, and not a Raider fan, we're still nice to you. Be nice! Be nice!"

"What comment? I don't even know if it's accurate. I never criticized Manny! You've gotta clean your ears out! Do we have Q-tips here? We got Q-tips, we're gonna get 'em for you. I've never criticized Manny Pacquiao. I think he's great. Never criticized him. You need to turn the volume up on your television set, and clean your ears out, and I love you."

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