The much awaited bout on May 2 between Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao and Floyd "Money" Mayweather, Jr. will finally happen in Las Vegas after months of excitement. Critics and analysts have their own predictions on who they think will win the fight.
Although there is a great divide between two sides among the public - one side rooting for Pacquiao, while the other cheer for Mayweather - Mayweather, Sr. is confident that "this fight is already won." "Trust me," he told BBC. "Once you get hit like Pacquiao got hit by Marquez, it will not take too many more punches until it happens again."
When he was asked about the Filipino boxing champ's best performance, he only answered, "When he got stretched by Marquez."
Marquez had actually lost to Pacquiao two times, got a draw once, and knocked him out flat on the ground on their fourth face-off. Although Pacman already won three fights since the infamous knockout, many boxing analysts, including Mayweather, Sr., are convinced that he is no longer the fighter he once was.
Freddie Roach, however, thinks otherwise. He has been training Pacquiao for 15 years now, and he reminded everyone that "knockouts are part of boxing." "If you do not want to get knocked out, go do something else," said the seven-time Trainer of the Year. "It was a bad knockout against Marquez - he was down for a long time. But, when we got back in the gym, there was no change. He was not gun-shy."
Despite Pacquiao's improvements, Roach acknowledged the fact that Mayweather has "put on extra muscle and can punch when he wants to." "I hope he chooses to come out in the early rounds and tries to knock us out," Roach added. "Floyd will be looking to land that big over-hand right, which was, kind of, a sucker shot - a shot fighters like Manny should not be hit with."
Furthermore, even though the game is already a couple of days away, a couple of new issues have surfaced. Mayweather's camp has just complained that the full-grain leather protective cup that Pacman was going to wear on Saturday night rose well above his navel. These complaints compelled the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) to inspect it.
"You go back and look at the pictures of that fight of how high Oscar De La Hoya's cup was," Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, told Grand Rapids Press, according to The Guardian. "So, I contacted the Commission - just so there would not be any issues because I know how his trainer is."
One more issue involves Mayweather's gloves. Roach was apparently concerned that the opposing camp had still not yet submitted the American boxer's gloves for evaluation. "Their gloves are handmade," he said. "I just want to make sure the weight is fair, but his gloves have not showed up yet."
