By Raj Parmar: With just a month away from the biggest fight of the century thus far, the betting odds between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao have shortened considerably after Floyd opened up as about a 3 to 1 favorite over the “Pacman”. With the odds now only 2 to 1 in favor of the man known as “Money”, bettors are feeling good about Pacquiao’s chances to knock Mayweather off his perch as the best boxer on the planet.
This article will take a look at three of Floyd’s biggest strengths as he attempts to fend off Manny on May 2 and maintain his unbeaten record.
1) Chin: I feel that Floyd’s chin and overall ability to take a punch is very underrated. Floyd has been caught with great shots in recent years and has taken them all relatively well. Shane Mosley was able to land his signature right rook against Mayweather in 2010 which nearly dropped Floyd, however “Money” was able to recover within the round and shook the punch off fairly quickly. This same right hook from Mosley sent the iron chinned Antonio Margarito stumbling all over the ring just a year earlier. In Floyd’s last fight against the heavy punching Marcos Maidana, Mayweather leaned forward with a jab and took a huge right hand from Marcos at the end of the third round. Although he was clearly wobbled for a second, Floyd again shook the shot off and showed no effects of the punch in the proceeding rounds. Manny is used to seeing his opponents show effects after he hits them with his lightning quick punches, and if Floyd is able to shake off a clean shot from Manny it will definitely be something new and possibly even discouraging for the Filipino icon.
2) Ring Generalship: Mayweather is a master of making his opponents fight at his pace and at the range he feels comfortable at, especially in the later rounds. This is why even though he may not throw many punches, Floyd is able to pile up rounds in his favor as he seemingly is always in control of the action or lack of action in the ring. In his 2008 bout against Ricky Hatton and his first fight with Maidana, Mayweather was able to keep his aggressive opponents at range in the later rounds after they attempted to smother him early on. Trainer Freddie Roach had earlier stated that he didn’t totally like Pacquiao simply following Chris Algieri around the ring in Manny’s last fight, and if Manny follows Floyd around the ring like he did with Algieri he might fall victim to Mayweather dictating the pace and flow of the fight as Floyd loves to lull his opponents into mindlessly chasing him as he set them up for counters.
3) Adaptability: Majority of Pacquiao’s previous victims stated they had tremendous problems adapting to Manny’s speed and the unusual angles he was throwing punches from. Floyd is known to adapt his style in-ring when a certain style is not working out. Against Mosley he was unsuccessfully evading Shane’s power shots early on while trying to defend from the “Philly Shell” defense position, and he then started to employ the high guard defense much more than he usually does and was able to avoid further punishment from Mosley by giving him new looks on defense. After losing a few of the early rounds against Oscar De La Hoya in their mega-fight in 2007 as Oscar bullied him to the ropes, Mayweather started to move forward and circle around De La Hoya while catching him with shots and avoiding further punishment along the ropes. This ability by Floyd to switch styles in-ring is a huge asset for him and if there is anyone who can figure out a way to get past Manny’s hand speed and angles, it’s Mayweather.
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