Robert Garcia upset about Bradley-Diaz split

Robert Garcia upset about Bradley-Diaz split

Robert Garcia is bummed and a little upset.

A man that never holds back, Garcia let his mind expatiate when asked to convey his thoughts about Timothy Bradley’s abrupt switch of trainers from longtime trainer Joel Diaz to legendary Teddy Atlas.

Brandon Rios, who is trained by Garcia, will take on WBO World welterweight champion Timothy Bradley at the newly renovated Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Sat. Nov. 7.

From Garcia’s vantage point, the most challenging aspect of the fight, is no longer a riveting component, albeit the fight itself is still going to be action-packed.

“It’s going to be a fight that is going to be full of action. Bradley is going to be there to give the fans a great fight. I’m a little upset and a little surprised that Joel Diaz is not going to be working that fight because it would be also a challenge for me,” Garcia told FightHype.com.

“Joel Diaz is a great trainer. That’s what boxing is all about. Us, trainers, also getting those challenges and showing what we can do with our fighters, but it’s not going to be like that. The fight still has to go on.”

The longtime partnership between Bradley and Diaz came to a bitter end in early September when Bradley asked his now ex-trainer in a private meeting if he trained him for the sole purpose of a paycheck.

After that exchange, Diaz knew it was over, and there was no turning back.

When he was notified that Teddy Atlas was being considered as his replacement, Diaz ripped into the idea.

“I don’t care. I know it’s not going to work. In order for anybody to work with Bradley, they need to adapt to every single person around Bradley,” he explained.

At one point, Diaz called the shots for his fighter as manager. After Bradley’s wife Monica had assumed the role, he added that it only made things more difficult once more and more people began to have an influence on his decision making.

As far as Bradley looking any different than he has over the course of his career, Garcia echoed a similar sentiment to the one Diaz emitted – nothing is going to change.

“I really don’t care. It won’t make a difference because Bradley is going to fight the way he always fights. If one trainer knew him better than anyone else, it was Joel Diaz,” Garcia said candidly.

A majority of people seem to believe the switch was a waste of time but are people underestimating Bradley’s talent?

An instantaneous change two months before a fight doesn’t sound all too articulate on paper but isn’t this what we said when Chris Algieri dumped Tim Lane for John David Jackson less than two months before fighting Amir Khan?

Flashes of Algieri’s performance against Manny Pacquiao the previous November where the ex-kickboxing champion was floored six times, encompassed my encephalon, yet I was fooled like so many others.

Algieri greatly improved and gave a solid effort despite taking a loss. Bradley has surprised us before. He beat Manny Pacquiao, though controversially, and he out-boxed the great Juan Manuel Marquez, who many expected to give Bradley his first loss.

Expect a solid fight with tremendous action, the same Timothy Bradley, and the same Brandon Rios on Nov. 7.

-Ryan O’Hara/ @OharaSports