https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yih7hVc8ciA
By Chris Williams: UFC woman’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is giving her friend Manny Pacquiao a good chance of upsetting Floyd Mayweather Jr in their mega-money fight in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 2nd.

Rousey, who is unbeaten in UFC competition at 11-0, thinks Pacquiao shouldn’t make the mistake of trying to jump in against Mayweather in the way that Pacquiao jumped in against Juan Manuel Marquez in their fight in 2012, Pacquiao was knocked cold by Marquez after he struck the Filipino star with a perfectly timed right hand to the head.

Instead of jumping in, Rousey says Pacquiao should fight with his feet flat on the canvas and look to pressure Mayweather constantly for as long as it takes to get the victory.

Rousey has never boxed in her life at the professional level, so she’s just giving her opinion of what she thinks Pacquiao should do against Mayweather rather than her having a good idea of what will work or not work for the Filipino fighter.

“If Manny doesn’t jump in and he uses relentless pressure and uses all his speed, I think he’s going to give Floyd an extremely hard time,” Rousey said via ESPN’s First Take. “I know he’s [Pacquiao] going to give Floyd some unique problems that Floyd hasn’t had to deal with – speed and relentless. The thing is if he doesn’t just jump in and he stays planted on his feet and uses all the speed that he has, I think that’s a really good strategy for him. I know Floyd is an extremely dangerous guy for Manny to fight, especially because he’s such a great counter puncher. That’s why I say Manny has to not jump in the way he did against Marquez; it’s not going to work out. If he keeps his feet planted and uses his pressure, it’s going to be completely different.”

I think Rousey’s advice for Pacquiao is going to get him totally dominated by Mayweather in this fight. Pacquiao literally can’t fight with his feet planted on the canvas like Rousey wants him to, because he’s too short to fight like that, and he’ll never reach his target.

If Pacquiao tries to plod his way into punching range by keeping his feet planted on the canvas, Mayweather is going to pick him off by landing everything but the kitchen sink on him. But by the same token, if Pacquiao jumps in like he’s done with his opponents his entire boxing career, Mayweather is going to pick him off with hard shots to the head.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is already talking about having Pacquiao jump in and out, so it looks like Rousey’s strategy for Pacquiao is going to fall on deaf ears.

“It’s really key that we’re in and out of the pocket really quick, because if you stay in the pocket for more than two shots with Mayweather, he’s going to hit you back,” Roach said via the Boxing Channel.

Does that sound like Pacquiao is going to fight with his feet planted on the canvas? Roach is going to have Pacquiao jumping in and out for as long as the fight lasts. The thing is if Mayweather is able to time Pacquiao like Marquez did, we’re going to see Pacquiao face down on the canvas again. He’ll be planted alright, but it won’t be his feet that are planted.

Honestly, Pacquiao has been jumping in and out for so many years during his pro career that I don’t think he could not fight like this even if Roach tried to change his style for the fight. It’s like the only tune that Pacquiao knows how to play. He can’t fight in another style because he’s too old at this point to learn a different way, and also he’s found success with this fighting style. The only guy that was able to figure out how to take advantage of the style was Marquez. Now it is Mayweather’s turn to solve Pacquiao’s fighting style.

Rousey initially mentioned wanting to fight Leila Ali (24-0), a fighter much bigger than her. But when pressed hard about when she would be willing to take the fight, Rousey danced around, saying that she couldn’t fight Ali due to prior commitments. She also said that she would fight someone her own size rather than Ali. So in other words, Rousey wouldn’t be fighting Ali even if she turned her career to boxing. It’s a good thing, because Ali is too big, too strong and just too skilled.

Rousey is a wrestler/judo type fighter, and it would be pretty much impossible to turn her into a good enough fighter for her to compete with someone like Ali in my view. Ali, 5’10” hasn’t fought in eight years since her last fight in 2007, but I think she would have no problems getting in good shape and totally wiping Rousey out in a boxing match. I don’t think it would be competitive at all. I see it as a worse mismatch than Ali’s last fight against Gwendolyn O’Neil, who she knocked out in the 1st round in 2007.