Floyd Mayweather at 1/2 against Manny Pacquiao is a tasty prospect given that there is not even a hint of a chink in his armour.
Yesterday we highlighted the gameplan that Pac-man would need to follow if he is to pull off the upset and set up a rematch even more anticipated than Saturday evening’s fight which is widely agreed upon as being the biggest bout of the modern era.
Mayweather (47-0) is favourite and deservingly so but he cannot get reckless against a very capable opponent in Pacquiao. We’ve pinpointed five strategies that Money will need to employ to keep his professional record intact come Sunday morning.
1. Body shots
As much of an anti-climax as it would be for the millions of fight fans who tune in to watch the superfight, this bout finishing due to a body blow is a fathomable prospect.
When you look at Pacquiao’s losses, two of them have come with body shots which brings into question his ability to absorb punishment.
And facing Pacquiao will be Mayweather, a fighter that lands body shots for fun and, while he prefers the straight punches to the body that keep his opponent at distance, even those less powerful strikes would wear on anyone over 12 rounds.
That’s not to say that Mayweather can’t finish with body punches because he has done. As a matter of fact, his professional debut finished with this devastating torqued hook to the solar plexus.
2. Movement
Mayweather’s footwork can sometimes make his fights look amazingly artistic when you consider the fact that it’s essentially two men trying to steal the other’s consciousness.
Pacquiao loves to brawl and will absolutely trouble Mayweather if the American stands in front of him but that’s about as likely as Mayweather asking for the cheapest pint at the hotel bar.
You can see here how Mayweather supremely manages to stay just out of range of any shots thrown by his opponent to the point that he often appears more like a matador than a professional boxer, just as he showed against Carlos Baldomir.
His movement is not restricted to getting his feet out of the way though. At close quarters it often seems like Mayweather sees the world in slow motion so proficient is he at getting his chin out of danger.
Mayweather will need to keep his head on a swivel because, despite being the smaller man, Pacquiao has surprising power and is doggedly aggressive.
3. Gamesmanship
This may not go down too well among purists but Mayweather may have to fight dirty against Pacquiao and he’s made no bones about doing so in the past.
It was rather rich hearing Money refer to Marcos Maidana as a dirty fighter in the build-up to their clash because Mayweather is far from an angel himself.
He employs a number of tactics from stepping in with grazing elbows to forcing his opponent’s head down, both of which he used repeatedly against Shane Mosley.
You’d think that Manny Pacquiao would not resort to those dirty tactics, considering how honest a fighter he is, which means that Mayweather could niggle away with these almost-fouls and frustrate the Filipino.
Mayweather even used a bit of a cheap shot, albeit in response to a Victor Ortiz headbutt, to knock his opponent out and while we’re not condoning the use of any cheating in the ring, it has to be said that Mayweather is very good at sneaking his dirty tactics past referees which he could use to his advantage against Pac-man.
4. Right straight
The fact that Pacquiao is a southpaw fighter is a double-edged sword for Money. Manny’s power punch being his left will reduce the effectiveness of Mayweather’s patented shoulder roll because he will, as Freddie Roach noted, be rolling into Pacquiao’s power.
But the benefit of Mayweather facing a southpaw is that his lead right hand, one of his most deadly punches, becomes all the more effective.
Left-handed Sharmba Mitchell found that out the hard way when Mayweather put on a clinic using his lead right as the primary weapon en route to a 6th round TKO.
And Pacquiao does have a tendency to sometimes feint his way into the right hands of his opponents which just makes the punch more powerful.
That’s what got Pac-man knocked out against Juan Manuel Marquez and something Floyd will definitely be looking to incorporate into his gameplan.
5. Size
It’s expected that, come fight time, Floyd Mayweather will be much heavier than Manny Pacquiao who could arguably still make 140lbs.
That extra size, you’d imagine, would lead to Mayweather’s ability to wear Pac-man out even when the pair clinch up.
Add to that the fact that Mayweather stands at 5 ft 8 ins means he’s over an inch and a half taller than his Filipino counterpart while the reach comparison is 72 ins – 67 ins which is an awful lot by boxing standards.
You could argue that size won’t play much of a part because Pacquiao has come through bigger men before, just look at his performance against Oscar De La Hoya, but Mayweather is a different kind of big.
De La Hoya’s style was to look for that knockout blow with his superior strength and power but Mayweather will be quite happy to use his reach advantage to outscore and frustrate Pacquiao, just as Erik Morales (who just so happens to have the exact same dimensions as Floyd Mayweather) did in their first meeting.
Mayweather is a far better technician than Morales so can use his reach even more significantly to keep Pacquiao right on the end of his punches, like Money did against Miguel Cotto who also has a reach of just 67 inches.
At 38, Floyd Mayweather’s undefeated record is looking in increasing danger as age starts to take its toll on the five-division world champion but he can keep his career perfect on Saturday night if he punishes Pacquiao with body shots, frustrates him with superior movement, uses as much gamesmanship as referee Kenny Bayless will allow, land his lead right as often as possible and envelop Pac-man with Mayweather’s greater stature in the ring.
