Pacquiao’s footwork and foot speed are the keys to defeating Mayweather

By Boxing News - 03/29/2015 - Comments

pac12By Sizzle JKD: Seven-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach is upping the ante. During a lackluster sparring session this weekend, Roach expressed some frustration and disgust at Manny Pacquiao for his lack of execution and the quality, or lack thereof, of his efforts. Pacquiao seemed to be taking it easy, implied Roach.

“I was just a little frustrated because, I mean, why with me it’s okay but then when he gets in there with somebody else, he completely changes,” Roach told GMA News yesterday.

Pacquiao’s compassion towards opponents and his diminishing killer instinct has been heavily chronicled over the last several years. Many believe that his lack of knockouts can be attributed to his being “nicer” to opponents while allowing his adversaries to finish the 12 rounds instead of beating them to submission like he used to do during his early prime years.

Roach is trying to find ways to ignite Manny’s fire once again.

“I’m not gonna be nice to him. I’m gonna make him do what I want because that’s the way he can beat Mayweather…the thing is I just want to let him know how important this is,” stated Roach.

There’s no doubt Pacquiao knows how important this fight is. The problem, however, lies in Pacquiao’s level of concentration and focus. The distractions have proven to get the best of him in the past, and there’s no telling if outside forces are once again going to play a major role in Pacquiao’s ability to maximize his preparation for Floyd Mayweather Jr.

But according to Buboy Fernandez, there’s nothing to worry about because what’s happening in training camp is normal. The team is simply adjusting on the fly and ironing out the kinks in their strategy.

“Foot speed and footwork, that’s our focus for the next two weeks,” Pacquiao remarked.

Indeed, one of the keys to beating the undefeated Mayweather will be to utilize Manny’s greatest strength – his ability to be light on his toes.

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Mayweather loves to capitalize on his opponents’ mistakes. In fact, he feasts on it. His impeccable timing allows him to look for holes and gaps in which to counter his opponent’s transgressions and score valuable points to win rounds.
Mayweather’s ability to set traps is uncanny – whether moving forward, fighting off his back foot, or against the ropes – and Pacquiao’s ability to read, recognize, and react will be severely tested. Being able to see Floyd’s traps before it happens, being able to take Floyd out of his rhythm so that Floyd is unable to set up his opponent, and forcing Floyd to telegraph his own offense are the keys to unlocking the “Mayvinci Code.”

And all of this starts with footwork and positioning. If Manny is able to use his foot speed in order to win the range and distance battle, he will be able to disrupt Mayweather’s timing and eventually take Mayweather out of his comfort zone.

Manny’s defense will be predicated on how his feet and legs hold up because positioning will be critical, whether it’s fighting on the inside or outside. It will be Manny’s foot speed that will make Mayweather miss. It will be Manny’s footwork that will put him in the position to out-punch Mayweather and score points at will. Lastly, it will be Pacquiao’s ability to stick and move that will give Manny the best chance to win rounds, frustrate Mayweather, beat him to a bloody pulp with his combinations, and most importantly, win the judges.

As much as Roach wants to keep Pacquiao’s sparring sessions a top secret affair, there’s no hiding that one of their keys to victory is constant movement.

With all of Floyd’s past opponents he’s only had to figure out his opponent’s upper body movement, and this has made it relatively easy for Mayweather to time his opponent’s punches and technique by the middle rounds. None of Floyd’s opponents at welterweight have ever been known to be agile on their feet, which is why Mayweather has always looked good against them. Floyd always had the hand AND foot speed advantage.

But against Pacquiao, it’s a whole different ball game. Pacquiao can offer something else that Floyd has never had to deal with in the past – uncanny and unparalleled footwork.

If Floyd is too busy trying to time not only Manny’s hand speed and awkward angles, what more if Floyd is unable to time and read Manny’s foot speed, footwork, lower body movements?

The Pacific Storm is coming.

47-1.



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