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Talkin’ Boxing with Andy Roddick
5 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Roddick meets Bradley. Photo from ATP WORLD TOUR.
This is a piece I penned for www.BoxingInsider.com…
Andy Roddick recently befriended Tim Bradley at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, CA.
Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and a boxing fan, shared his views on what he thinks will happen when Manny Pacquiao clashes with Bradley on June 9. “I talked to (Bradley) in Indian Wells and I told him he’s gonna be like the guy who shot Bambi if he wins that fight,” said Roddick. “He hasn’t lost yet. I think we have seen with boxing, you know, we use the term – a puncher’s chance – in a lot of different sporting events, and I’m pretty sure that came from boxing.”
Roddick, a three-time finalist at Wimbledon and winner of 595 career ATP matches (20th all time for career match wins), has curiosity to see how Bradley can match skills with the Filipino Destroyer. “I think one of the intriguing things is no one knows how good he is yet. He hasn’t fought someone like Pacquiao, so we’ll see. But he’s certainly quick. He has the handspeed and, you know, we’ll see. Those two guys don’t get hit very often.”
I asked Roddick, the former world ATP No. 1 ranked player in 2003 what he thinks about the current pound-for-pound king of boxing, Manny Pacquiao. “I watched his fight against Marquez and obviously that was probably the worst he’s looked in two or three years. I felt like he would have been the betting favorite against Mayweather before that fight and now afterwards, I feel like maybe Mayweather might have been. The thing is he’s as good as he is and then you have to adjust to being a southpaw. I think that’s a huge advantage.”
While he’s thrilled to see his pal Bradley do well against Pacquiao, Roddick seems more excited about the potential Super Bowl event of boxing history, Pacquiao vs. Mayweather. “I just hope that … I wish Bradley the best but, you know, I think we all want to see Pacquiao-Mayweather also. I wish they would just get that thing done. It’s crazy. It’s the only sport in the world where the two best in the world will never … they just won’t fight. It doesn’t happen in any other sport, and it’s frustrating as a fan.”
Roddick defeated Gilles Muller today in straight sets at the Sony Ericsson Open ATP Masters Series event in Key Biscayne, Florida. In the third round Roddick will meet his rival Roger Federer.
Also, Roddick, an avid all around sports fan, hosts a sports radio show on Fox Sports Radio which he does once a week.
Andy Roddick · boxing · Floyd Mayweather · Manny Pacquiao · Tim Bradley
Dan Markowitz · March 24, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Roddick “thinks” the term “a puncher’s chance” comes from boxing? Where else would it come from? Figure skating”
You should ask Roddick, Scoop, when he gets the chance to do a weekly radio show when he’s on the road playing a tournament.
Roddick is not a rival to Federer. I think the term “rival” only applies when there’s actually a chance for both players to win outside of exhibitions. If Roddick played Gilles Mueller every time out he’d be No. 1 again. Geez, Mueller was awful.
I was impressed by Serena, but even Ted Robinson and Lindsay Davenport were commenting that she looked winded a lot and the match against Vinci wasn’t even that competitive.
Scoop Malinowski · March 25, 2012 at 2:29 am
Dan I think Roddick was just kind of joking when he said that, a little sarcasm. Good question about the radio show, it’s not getting much pub or hype from the media but Roddick will shine in that role someday, I can see him being a Fowler type too, he’s very well spoken, since starting that show I observed today he seems to be getting even better at talking and he’s always excelled at it. He has TV personality persona written all over him. Dan I think Serena may have been winded but this was her first match in a while and she was really really amped up and was
Michael · March 25, 2012 at 9:17 am
I read that post and my head just did a Linda Blair:
http://youtu.be/LlFhybmvrY0?t=2m32s
I understand why CBS would hype it every time they meet — though even Pmac seemed to grow weary of the pretense.
Under no stretch of the understanding of the word rival has Roddick ever been Federer’s rival.
Since Fed became #1 he beat Roddick 16 out of 17 times. 11 were straight sets. Many were blowouts. How is that a rival ?
This will be a litmus test for whether I can take Gimelstob seriously even though, as Wertheim said out loud what everyone was thinking, almost everyone on the screen has some sort of conflict of interest.
If JG starts in with rivalry talk it’s not a good sign.
On Serena post.
She will destroy Stosur. The Williams have been playing part time for years and remain at or near the top of the sport. Two of the best to have ever played. Either could win another Major and no one would bat an eye. Serena’s temper will have no bearing on whether she wins another. Like Jmac it doesn’t seem to negatively impact her game. If anything its’ working for her (see Major title count).
Azarenka Smazarenka. I’m betting Serena until she packs up her racket and moves on.
Dan Markowitz · March 25, 2012 at 10:52 am
I’d be mighty surprised if Venus won another slam. I was mighty surprised to see she beat Kvitova 6-0 in third set of first Miami match. Geez, people were plugging the Czech to be the next Martina N.
Gimelstob is usually hard for me to take. I’ve had my run-in’s with him–like when he talked my ear off in Newport about what an injustice to the game Vince and I did by writing ‘Break Point’–but there’s this unctuousness about him, this over-earnestness that bugs me. If he just calmed down and relaxed a little and didn’t feel like he had to give every fact or analyses, I think he’d be more bearable.
Andrew Miller · March 25, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Ha ask Federer, he says point blank that Roddick should have won more of their lopsided matchip. Whether Federer means “one or two” more matches, or “five or six” is really not for someone like me to interpret, but Federer is not one to mince his words when it comes to his opinions of opponents. He’ll tell you when he thinks he’s playing well and when he’s better than an opponent, and he’ll give credit where it’s due (a lot like Nadal, Agassi, Sampras, etc). All those guys have/had a great grasp of reality.
And I think when Federer speaks of Roddick and his respect for him, it’s probably because of this moment when Roddick struck the hardest overhead I have ever seen. You really do wonder what might have happenned if Roddick pulled out the Wimbledon – this one in 2004 or in 2009. But like Agassi said, you just can’t call in the wins. If it were that easy…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHacALkiBOQ&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL82EFA1FFB6C23D8A