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Tiernan Bradley

Tiernan Bradley5 posts
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9 Aug, 2017

Bradley: I was there when McGregor sparred Malignaggi

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In an article in The Irish News, Tiernan says he is surprised by Malignaggi’s statements.

Any time I’ve logged on to social media, it’s been ‘Paulie say this’ or ‘Paulie says that’ – we all know Paulie can talk, but even he must be exhausted after doing so many interviews. It’s almost a week since he left the training camp, and it was a shame to see him go. Although he was only really about for a week-and-a-half, Paulie was a good guy to have around the place. But, having been here the whole time, some of the things he has come out with in the last seven days have taken me by surprise.

On the sparring session:

I did Paulie’s corner for the spar, their second after a feisty first encounter, and I can safely say it will be very interesting when the video comes out after the fight. When you’re in sparring, sometimes you think you’re doing better than you are, but watching back afterwards can reveal the true nature of the spar. I’ve experienced that myself, you start to notice little things you did wrong, or maybe punches landed that you don’t remember…Conor stayed very professional; Paulie was saying stuff and then getting hit. Conor chose his moments to talk back. There are tactics to mental warfare too, knowing when to talk, and then there’s stupidity.It wasn’t a one-sided spar either way but I thought one was the clear winner overall and that was Conor. He was very calm, very professional and, honestly, he really impressed me on the day.

When Malgnaggi saw the ‘shovedown’ photo:

He was clearly pissed off, showing us his phone, saying ‘what the f**k?’ or whatever. It was weird though because after that Conor came into the changing room but Paulie didn’t mention it, even though they did speak. We were in the car home from training to get food and Paulie was like ‘drop me back to the house’. You could see he was hanging his head, thinking about things. He was in a bad mood. We left him to the house and when we came back he was gone – we were only away about 45 minutes. He must’ve been straight in, suitcase packed, out the door…As for the ‘knockdown’ itself, you can make your own mind up when the footage is eventually released, if anybody even cares by that stage. I’ve seen people say that, from the photo, you can tell that it was a push down by the body language of Joe Cortez. I can tell you now – Joe didn’t see the incident that led to Paulie being on the ground. He didn’t see it.

This camp is not about Paulie. When we’re in the gym, we’re concentrating on Conor, getting him ready. I did some school sparring with him on the Thursday, the day Paulie left and it was as if nothing had happened. This is not the Big Brother house. It’s a training camp, and that’s all anybody left here cares about.

1 Jul, 2017

Bradley: McGregor ‘lifted me off my feet with his right hand’

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Bradley says he was brought into McGregor’s camp after being recommended by Conor Wallace, the Northern Irish amateur boxer who was called upon to help McGregor prepare for his rematch with Nate Diaz. Wallace’s recommended Bradley’s because he is replicate the Mayweather style. Bradley:

People laugh when they hear me saying I can replicate Mayweather. I guess nobody can move like Floyd, but I’ve been studying everything about the guy for the last 13 years. I know what way he moves and I know how he moves into his punches. I know how he reacts to getting hit. I feel like I’m able to bring that in to help Conor as he prepares for this fight. When I’m competing, I don’t necessarily use Mayweather’s style, but I definitely use some of his tools. The step-back right hand and check left hook are two techniques I use a lot. And of course, I use some of his defensive tactics to stop me getting hit.

On McGregor’s boxing ability:

Conor is a very good boxer. He doesn’t move like any other boxer. He’s powerful, fast and light on his feet … He’s very good at getting in and out and connecting. He’s so quick on his feet it’s very hard to judge the distance with him. He’s so fast and unpredictable — that’s a very dangerous combination. I don’t think Mayweather has ever boxed anyone like that. He has this strange style and he can keep going at a serious pace for 12 rounds. He’s on his toes and he’s constantly keeping you guessing…I’ve got a black eye at the moment and I got that from him when he was wearing 16-ounce gloves. I don’t know if you’ve seen the photo that he uploaded onto his Instagram after our session. People are talking about his left hand and whether the power will be there with 10-ounce gloves — he lifted me off my feet with a right uppercut in 16 (ounce gloves)! That shot came out of nowhere. It was so fast and powerful. I can tell you now that those kinds of shots would drop boxers, and that was his right hand…I know he’ll give Floyd a hard fight. This will not be a walkover. I really think whoever puts more into their camp will win it. I know that Conor is putting in the work and that his confidence is through the roof. He’s going to be ready when fight night comes around.