5 Reasons Mayweather Jr. Will Easily Defeat Manny Pacquiao

By Boxing News - 02/27/2015 - Comments

floyd656By Chester Rivers: First, let me explain that this is not intended to insult or discredit any of the accomplishments of Manny Pacquiao. Manny has accomplished a lot in the sport of boxing. He has always carried himself like a champion, but come May 2, 2015, he will be outclassed, befuddled and dominated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. and here are 5 reasons why.

1) ALEX ARIZA: The signing of Ariza to the Money Team was, for me, the first indication that Mayweather Jr. was entertaining the idea of a possible clash with Manny Pacquiao. Manny’s speed and strength were concerns of Mayweather in the 2009 negotiations. Manny has stated in past interviews that he can tell a difference in his performances without Ariza being in his corner. Manny credits the regiment of Plyometrix, a system Ariza has mastered, for helping him retain his speed and power while moving up in weight. Ariza will also be able to give helpful inside information because who know Pacquiao’s strengths and weaknesses better than his former strength and conditioning coach.

2) MAYWEATHER JR. ADAPTABILITY: Floyd Mayweather Jr. has faced a variety of different styles and defeated them all. Speedy lefties in Zab Judah, heavy handed punchers in Marcos Maidana, rough and rugged in Robert Guerrero, intelligent ring general in Miguel Cotto and the young hotshot Saul Alvarez. Each fighter that Mayweather Jr. has faced is vastly different from the prior. That’s not the case with Pacquiao. Most of his opponents are easy to hit, somewhat flat footed and limited offensively.Both fighters will have to make in-fight adjustments and I think Mayweather Jr will fair much better doing so.

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3) SIZE: Those who believe Freddie Roach’s proclamation that Mayweather Jr has lost his legs will be in for a huge surprise. What does this has to do with size? Well, for starters, Mayweather Jr. has not lost his ability to move. Mayweather is generally outweighed 15 – 20 pounds on fight night. In order to limit Mayweather’s movement those larger fighters use their size to push the smaller Mayweather against the ropes to keep him stationery and work the body. In this fight Mayweather will be the larger man. Pacquiao will not push Mayweather against the ropes because he will have to exert to much energy to do so. Pacquiao’s combinations will be defended by Mayweather moving and setting traps.

4) ABILITY TO TAKE A PUNCH: Mayweather’s chin has been tested and has passed with flying colors. His recovery time is impeccable. Mayweather was rocked by the hardest puncher in the welterweight division and did not hit the canvas. He took a flush punch by Marcos Maidana and remained on his feet. Mayweather knew exactly where his corner was, which mean, he still had all his cognitive senses after the punch. Video replay revealed that the punch knocked out Mayweather Jr tooth. Mayweather recovered quickly and came back to dominate Maidana the rest of the fight. As for Manny, I’m still not convince he has completely recovered from his knock out to Juan Manuel Marquez. When you’re knock out in that fashion the brain has a way of protecting itself from further damage. In other words, once a fighter has been knocked cold his ability to take a punch is never the same afterwards. Examples to support this claim are Roy Jones Jr, Jermain Taylor, George Groves and Amir Khan.

5) STYLES: The one style that has proven to give Pacquiao trouble is counter-punchers. Mayweather is arguably the best counter puncher in boxing. Mayweather is also one of the few fighters effective backing up and coming forward. Mayweather knocked out Ricky Hatton backing up and Diego Corrales coming forward. Manny tend to take a lot of gambles in the ring and most pay off against the slower opponent. Pacquiao can not gamble or make too many mistakes in this fight because the patient Mayweather will be ready to counter and take advantage. Mayweather will use his jab to the body and head to frustrate Pacquiao and keep him at bay. Mayweather will also shoot right hand leads and check left hooks. Mayweather’s strategy will not be crowd pleasing but it will prove to be very effective and dominant.

Those hoping for another Hagler vs. Hearns, Ali vs. Frazier or Gatti vs. Ward will be very disappointed. This fight will probably resemble Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson. That was another overly hyped mismatch.



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