On if Teddy Atlas' influence is overblown
"I don't think it's overblown. I think that Bradley truly gets along with him and believes in him. They seem very positive together. I think he's gonna help him a little bit. The stories about the firemen and all that I don't really care for. ... But getting him ready for the fight, though, has probably been better. What he brings to the table and his history in boxing, with Cus D'Amato as his mentor -- so I'm hoping it makes him a better fighter. I hope it makes him a more aggressive fighter, actually, for more exchanges. It'll help the fight. Then he says he's gonna have a Marquez-type fight, but really I think he's trying to bluff us, because Marquez is completely a counter-puncher. There's no Bradley can ever be Marquez. You can't emulate someone else, and I know Teddy is smarter than this."
On Bradley having a better game plan with Atlas
"His former coach is a good coach also. I'm not going to give Teddy that much credit. They had one fight together, and he looked pretty good, but look what he had in front of him. Let's face it, Rios was, like, really out of shape in that fight. I never expected Rios to ever do that, but he was fat and out of shape. He didn't have much in front of him. So I'm not going to give them much credit for looking good in that fight. I mean, I could've looked good against Rios that night."
On the "firemen" speech and the like
"I don't think it's the motivating factor in the fight. I'd rather give me fighter direction on how to make adjustments. But Teddy's always been the storyteller, and he has good stories, and the fans kinda like that, so maybe it's good for boxing. If it sells tickets, I'm all for it. But stories don't win fights."
On Adrien Broner calling out Floyd Mayweather
"Maybe it was planned. I'm not sure. I like Adrien, he's actually a friend of mine. He's a nice guy, he's always respectful to me. He's just not at that level yet, and maybe never will be at that level. Mayweather would be too much for him, and Mayweather's retired."
On Pacquiao luring Mayweather back
"I certainly hope so. I would love to fight him one more time with Pacquiao 100 percent healthy, which he is right now. I would love to see that. ... I thought Mayweather won the fight with the jab. He had a very good jab. Manny didn't throw as many combinations as I wanted him to. But Bob and Manny watched the fight together on replay, and they think Manny outscored him. I never watched the replay because I was disappointed. I thought Manny could've done a lot better, but Mayweather altered our game plan with that good jab."
On if Mayweather will fight again
"Yeah. Between him and Manny, they're both very -- Manny's a very generous person and gives a lot of money away to his countrymen, and buys poor people houses, and builds churches and schools and does good things with it, and Mayweather buys a lot of cars and a lot of houses for himself, it seems like. They're both spenders, and sometimes spenders have to fight again."
On Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez
"Oscar's scared, let's face it. Manny kicked his ass. ... I've thought about (Canelo), but until it gets made I don't know what will happen. There's always negotiations -- how much weight gain, catchweights, and so forth. The game is a lot different now than it used to be."
On the De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight and Manny then compared to now
"Manny's done very well. He hasn't knocked a lot of people out at the higher weight division. Manny's a much better puncher at 140 than 147. I attribute that to why he hasn't knocked people out in a long time. It's not that he's not hitting hard, he's just not that big of a person. Manny's a better 140 pounder. If he does fight again, I hope it's at 140 and not 147."
On Pacquiao's weight
"He can still make 135. He walks around at, like, 138. It's not problem. ... I think there's some good fights at 140 against Terence Crawford and some of those guys. I think that's the biggest fight out there at 140.
On fighting Crawford at 140 or 147
"I'd like the fight at 140, but, you know. Negotiations. Manny's best fighting weight is 140."
On Terence Crawford vs Viktor Postol
"It's a fight we're looking forward to. We don't have many other offers out there for Postol. A lot of people don't want to fight him right now. Crawford's one of the few guys who has said yes. That could be an excellent fight. Both very good upcoming fighters. That's a 50-50 fight. I'm not gonna say we're gonna go blow this guy away, because I know Crawford's a good fighter, and Postol's a good fighter, also. But I'd love to see that fight."
On this being Pacquiao's last fight
"I don't really think so, yes. But until you've taken the stipulation of him becoming a Senator -- can you be a Senator and a fighter? Maybe there won't be time enough to do both. One thing I like about this is he can retire happily. He's had a great career. And if he does retire, he has something to fall back on. Most of fighters don't and that's why they come back. If Manny Pacquiao retires, I think it'll be over. He'll become a Senator, and he'll be happy with his life, helping the people of his country."
On whether Manny's lost a step
"We had a little bit of a slow step. I think it had a lot to do with the long layoff. It was hard for Manny to get going in camp. ... He really didn't peak until the last two sparring days, and then he came along. The firepower was there and everything came together. I was waiting longer than usual for that to happen, but it did happen. He's in great shape for this fight. I like where he's at right now, but it did take a little longer this time than it has in the past. Getting older is part of that equation."
On if this camp was better than Mayweather camp
"He came on late, but I don't think that makes a big difference. It's actually probably better. It might be perfect time. He is getting older, but boxers are going longer. When I was a fighter, I retired when I was 27, and that was average back then. But now, they last until 35, 40. Hopkins is 50. With the science we have now of athletics, it's much better now than it was back when I was a kid."
On what stands out about Pacquiao's qualities
"We had a great career, but he's the best guy in the world. He's the most generous, fair, nice person I've ever met in my life. The only way Manny Pacquiao will spend all his money is he gives it all away, he's the nicest guy I ever met in my life. He has no prejudices against anyone, he treats everybody fairly, he loves everybody, he's just a good person."
On his run with Pacquiao
"It's been 15 years of greatness. Pacquiao is a generous person, and I can go visit him in the Philippines whenever I want, because he gave me enough money to buy a ticket."
On his first impressions of Pacquiao
"That he's special. I knew that after one round. When he fought Ledwaba, I tried to get a bet down, Ledwaba was like a 60-to-1 favorite. None of the casinos would take my bet. I was telling [Top Rank matchmaker] Bruce Trampler, 'Manny's gonna kill this guy.' They kept laughing, telling me, 'No, Ledwaba's way too much for him.' After that fight, they all started to believe me. I think his best fight is still when he beat Barrera the first time. I think that put him on the map, because Barrera was pound-for-pound the best guy in the world at that time, and Manny dominated him. I have some great memories of Manny, those are just a couple."
On Manny's best weight in his career
"His best weight class was 135, 140. At this point right now, 140."
On if Atlas' strong personal relationship with Bradley could be a problem
"I don't think Teddy's that type of guy (to stop a fight early). I think he knows when a fighter is ready to be stopped. He has a lot of experience. But he has been an announcer for a long time, so maybe he's lost that. I'm not sure. They seem to get along very well. All the stories about firemen, and all that bullshit, that's not gonna get you ready for a fight. I hope he got him ready tactically. I know we're gonna hear another story or two. Is it entertaining? Yes. But I don't think stories about a fireman are gonna help a fighter."
On if he wants to "beat Atlas"
"Yes. Badly."
On if this fight has been easier to prepare for than Mayweather
"Yes. That fight was really demanding. I was really tired of that fight. There was a lot of press. That was a big, big fight. That was the biggest fight I've ever been involved with in my life. This is a little quieter. But big fights are what we live for. I hope that one comes around one more time after this one, but that's only if Manny wants to fight one more time."