John Scully: “If Bradley were able to flip it on Manny Pacquiao and win impressively, it would shine on Teddy Atlas”

‘Iceman’ John Scully is former world title challenger, a boxing analyst and a highly respected boxing trainer who has seen many of the great fighters in the sport come and go. In part 2 of my interview with Scully, I get his thoughts on rising stars Gennady Golovkin and Saul Alvarez facing each other in the new year. John also talks about Manny Pacquiao’s potential third bout with Timothy Bradly and what legacy Pacquiao leaves behind. Additional, Scully talks about his recent move back to Connecticut and some of the projects he is working on. Here is what John Scully had to say.

Jenna J: Do you think Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez is a fight that could live up to the hype if it happens next year?

John Scully: I think it would live up to the hype more than Mayweather-Pacquiao did, and that’s not a slight on either of those guys at all. I just think it’s a different set of guys all around and they would be more willing to engage each other.

‘GGG’ is a predator who is also a good boxer, he has the skills but you can clearly see that he likes to set himself up to do maximum damage to his opponents. Canelo is coming off a huge victory and in a fight to truly prove who the premier guy at 160lbs is in the whole world, he’s definitely going to legitimately try and give Golovkin the fight of his life.

Jenna J: What do you think of Tyson Fury’s performance over Wladimir Klitschko and what do you think of the status of the heavyweight division as a whole?

John Scully: I thought he fought the exact fight he needed to fight. He executed a brilliant game plan and actually made it sort of look easy which is pretty impressive. Against that level of competition and in a fight of that magnitude, to have the discipline and wherewithal to stay focused and get it done was very impressive to me.

I think the heavyweight division is in a bit of trouble in terms of the potential for good fights that the general public would really be eager for. Heavyweights have lost the spotlight slowly but surely and right now we are in a situation where even some boxing fans couldn’t name more than five heavyweight contenders.

Jenna J: As I said before, Manny Pacquiao is retiring, and it’s widely reported that his last fight will be a third bout with Timothy Bradley, what do you think of them fighting for a third time and do you think a trainer like Teddy Atlas can make enough of a difference to change the result?

John Scully: I honestly believe that it takes a very specific type of fighter to be able to jive with Teddy Atlas. Trainers have different methods and rules and ways and Teddy’s are apparently pretty unique and not for just any kid, especially in this era. But Tim has always seemed like a kid who would embrace the discipline and a regimented way of doing things. I can see him soaking up the methods and his last fight was obviously an indication that they’re a strong match.

Now the fact is that Manny won their rematch pretty convincingly and many felt he won their first fight too, so this fight has a ton of pressure on both sides. Obviously Tim wants to prove he can beat the man and he wants a clear victory over him and obviously Manny wants to go as an impressive winner. But there’s also the pressure on Teddy to get his man ready to do it.

If Tim were able to flip it on Manny and win impressively, it would shine on Teddy just as much or maybe even more considering the circumstances, than it would on Timothy. So there’s a lot of interesting and marketable aspects to this fight.

Jenna J: Do you think people will view Manny Pacquiao’s legacy in regards to all the fighters he fought and all of his accomplishments?

John Scully: Manny Pacquiao is a legend and his list of opponents is literally mind boggling. They can never take that away from him. He was a real champion and he faced the best out there, guys other people weren’t as eager to face. I am not one to really make a big thing about all the titles he won because I know that the world championships have been diluted so much by the sanctioning bodies, but regardless, he was able to climb higher and higher in weight and was always competitive. His conditioning, his willingness to engage, his out of the ring persona, all of that together makes him a true legend.

Jenna J: Looking forward to the new year, can you talk about some of the fighters you are working with now and what you hope to accomplish in the new year?

John Scully: I very recently made the move back to Connecticut after a two year stay in Florida so I’m still getting acclimated and situated again. I’m actually going through some serious health issues with my father fight now so I’ve actually had to put my boxing on hold for the moment in order to care for him.

Eventually I will take over running the gym in Hartford that I trained at when I was fighting and where I trained fighters after I retired. I have two undefeated pros from Florida I was working with and I’m hopeful that we can resume training together here in Connecticut for a few weeks at a time. They’re two brothers, Dario Bredecian is a super middleweight and his brother Bruno is a welterweight. Both are good looking prospects and I’m hoping it can be worked out to resume training together. Other than that I will be looking to rebuild the amateur program at the gym in Hartford into what it once was and I am also busy with some other projects.

I’m looking to organize my fourth amateur boxers reunion and hold it in New York City sometimes in the early summer. I’ve done three of them in the last two years. One in Las Vegas, one in New York City and one at Foxwoods and I’ve had guys like Lamon Brewster, Alex Ramos, Mike McCallum, Marlon Starling, Montell Griffin, Thell Torrence, Kenny Adams, “Sucra” Ray Oliviera, Iran Barkley and both Micky Ward and Dickie Ecklund, among many others in attendance at them.

I believe they will continue to grow and eventually I will be able to get some type of sponsorship and backing in order to make them really as spectacular as they should be. Right now they’ve been successful but they have literally been done with no backing whatsoever. In Las Vegas the Rival products store let us use the facility and at Foxwoods they allowed use of a banquet room and in New York City the great Jimmy Glenn allowed us to use his bar and restaurant on 44th Street (Jimmy’s Corner) but in terms of travel and expenses, it’s all been out of pocket for each of us thus far.

Finally, I’m in the process as we speak of setting up filming dates for a boxing documentary I’ll be doing in New York City. I cant give away too much right now because I don’t want anyone stealing my idea but it’s something that’s never been done before and I have the knowledge and insight to do it and I have the time and the film company behind me to get it done. Once it’s in action officially I will definitely have a press release out to let the boxing world what’s going on with it.