Ellerbe: Mayweather will KO Pacquiao

By Boxing News - 04/15/2015 - Comments

ellerbeBy Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao’s chances of making it the full 12 rounds against Floyd Mayweather Jr on May 2nd are too good, according to Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe. He feels that the 36-year-old Pacquiao makes too many mistakes during his fights, and these mistakes are going to lead him to getting knocked out by Mayweather at some point along the way.

Ellberbe doesn’t see the fight as one where Pacquiao will get blasted out immediately by Mayweather, but nonetheless, Pacquiao will be going down on the canvas sooner or later.

Ellerbe didn’t say whether Mayweather will knock Pacquiao out cold like Juan Manuel Marquez did in 2012, but you have to believe that the possibility exists if Pacquiao rushes Mayweather in a desperate manner like he did Marquez and virtually all of the opponents he’s faced since turning pro in 1995 some 20 years ago.

“I expect to see a knockout,” Ellerbe said via Skysports.com. “Floyd will seize the opportunity and finish him off. A lot will play out from the way that the fighters come out from the opening bell. He will be able to come out and dictate the pace based on Manny’s style. It’s no secret that Manny is a very aggressive and exciting fighter but he makes a lot of mistakes that Floyd will be able to exploit from the opening bell.”

Having seen Pacquiao get flattened by Marquez, a fighter that Mayweather blanked in 12 rounds in 2009, I think it’s very possible that Pacquiao will be knocked out in this fight. He’s training to attack, attack and attack Mayweather, and that could be a recipe for disaster for Pacquiao. His trainer Freddie Roach has been talking about having Pacquiao jump forward and throw eight-punch combinations against Mayweather. Roach expects Mayweather not to counter Pacquiao while he’s in the process of throwing the 8-punch combos, but rather after he finishes punching, and by that time, Roach expects Pacquiao to duck under Mayweather’s single counter shot while moving backwards to the safety of the outside.

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It sounds very farfetched to believe that Pacquiao can pull off fighting like this against a fighter as good as Mayweather, but Roach definitely believes it’s possible.

“It’s about working smarter, not harder,” Ellerbe said. “As you get older you make better decisions with your training. “Floyd can fight any type of style that he chooses to fight. The reason he’s able to last so long in this sport is because he’s a smart fighter, he doesn’t go out there like some fighters. He’s a thinking fighter. He’s the best conditioned athlete in all of sports, he’s the only undefeated athlete of the last 17, 18 years.”

Mayweather is definitely a highly intelligent fighter and he doesn’t waste punches by jumping forward and throwing sustained combinations like Pacquiao. It’s not that Mayweather can’t do it, because he certainly has the speed and the armament of throwing eight shots in a row if he wanted to. It’s that Mayweather isn’t stupid enough to try and stunt like that because he knows that if he throws flurries of shots, he’s going to get countered while he’s in the process of throwing them. If Pacquiao wants to be the one that is getting countered with shots that he doesn’t see coming, then it’s on him for wanting to have his chin tested all night long. Unless Pacquiao gets a clue and fights smart, I think it’s quite possible that Pacquiao will be left on the canvas fast asleep like Ricky Hatton was when he tried to attack without setting his shots up.

“He’s [Mayweather] able to make adjustments in a fight, he’s able to make moves,” Ellerbe said. “He knows what he’s going to do four rounds from now. He’s able to dictate a pace and set you up. He has the best hand wrapper in the game, the best cut man in the game, great trainers and he’s the best fighter of our generation. Pacquiao is a fighter that has great speed and he’s very awkward, he has a tremendous trainer and they’ll come out with a great game-plan but I know it won’t be enough to offset what Floyd is bringing to the table.”

There’s no question that Mayweather is able to make adjustments during the course of his fights that don’t require for him to be given advice in between rounds. Mayweather is able to make the adjustments during the rounds themselves. He’s not like Pacquiao who receives his instructions at the end of the rounds by his trainer Freddie Roach. Mayweather has a big advantage in that he can do it during the rounds, and his adjustments are smart once that involve him not getting hit. It’s very likely that Roach will have Pacquiao taking huge gambles in this fight in sticking his neck out with risky attacks.



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