https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f1h0yFzigc&feature=youtu.be
By Chris Williams: Nonito Donaire thinks WBO 147 pound champion Manny Pacquiao needs to use the same fighting style he’s always used when he faces Floyd Mayweather Jr in 26 days from now on May 2nd. Donaire thinks the best think that the 36-year-old Pacquiao can do is use his in and out attacking style, and look to use side to side angles to keep Mayweather guessing.

Donaire thinks the movement will keep Mayweather from being able to get comfortable in the ring to where he can time the Filipino star to nail him with counters like he always does to his opponent.

It’s obviously not a very promising outlook for Pacquiao given that Mayweather defeated what many boxing fans feel is an even better fighter than Pacquiao in Juan Manuel Marquez. Mayweather easily defeated Marquez in 2009 in beating him by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision.

It was like stealing candy from a baby in that fight. Marquez had no chance, and Mayweather made it look easy. The fact that Mayweather could beat Marquez, who arguably beat Pacquiao four straight times, kind of tells you what kind of problems the shorter 5’6” Pacquiao is going to have against Mayweather.

“In order for Pacquiao to win, he would need to be in and out, side to side, don’t give him no rhythm,” Donaire said via Boxingmundial.com. “Don’t give him [Mayweather] time to think. What he [Pacquiao] has been doing when he fought [Erik] Morales, when he fought [Marco Antonio] Barrera, when he fought Marquez. That’s what he needs to do, in and out and box, and the one two, the one two, and just go out there. But again people are going to say Mayweather has never fought a guy like Pacquiao and that’s true.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=426Vr4UUcwc

It sounds good what Donaire is saying, but the problem is Morales, Barrera and Marquez are clearly not as talented as Mayweather. The fact that Pacquiao was able to beat a weight-drained Morales after losing to him in his prime, and beat a battle worn Barrera means nothing. It just means that Pacquiao beat guys that weren’t as good as Mayweather.

You can’t count Pacquiao’s wins over Marquez, because many boxing fans felt that Pacquiao was gifted in the first three fights against the Mexican warrior with two wins and a draw. I personally had Marquez winning all of the fights against Pacquiao.

If Pacquiao doesn’t give Mayweather time to think in the ring on May 2nd, then I can see this fight winding up with Mayweather knocking Pacquiao out cold. If Pacquiao blindly rushes Mayweather using his in and out, and side to side fighting style, Mayweather is going to time Pacquiao each time he rushes in to try and land something.

I think Pacquiao is going to run into a hard right hand shot from Mayweather and wind up on the canvas face first like he did against Marquez in 2012. Not giving Mayweather time to think is going to make him even better than he normally is because his instincts will take over and he’s going to be like a tiger in the ring against a lamb.

You don’t want to be rushing a tiger when you don’t have the same type of physical and mental attributes against the big cat. I think the worst thing Pacquiao can do is blindly rush Mayweather with his in and out attacking style and use side to side movement. Mayweather is going to eat that style up in this fight.

Pacquiao needs to be cautious against Mayweather for him to have a chance of winning because as soon as Pacquiao starts fighting like a wild man in the ring against Mayweather, I see the end coming quickly just like it did with Victor Ortiz.

Pacquiao obviously doesn’t want to be turned into another Ortiz in the ring. That would look bad. That’s why Pacquiao needs to forget about what his trainer Freddie Roach is saying if he wants him to bum rush Mayweather. Instead, Roach needs to get some advice from a defensive master like Virgil Hunter to get some real ideas in how to tackle Mayweather.

Just rushing Mayweather like a mad dog isn’t going to work, I hate to say. Hunter could give Pacquiao some of his pearls of wisdom as long as Pacquiao was ready to hire him to help out. For a fight as important as this one is, Pacquiao should be looking to get as much help as possible. I wouldn’t just want to go with my old trainer if I was knocked out cold fighting aggressively in a fight against Marquez.

Roach was the one that wanted Pacquiao to fight Marquez in an aggressive manner. That outcome should have been a wake-up call for Pacquiao that he needs a brilliant defensive strategist to help him out.

Pacquiao can keep Roach, but I think needs all the extra help he can get for this fight. Hunter doesn’t believe in letting his fighters leave themselves open when attacking their opponents, and I think he’d have a lot to say about the flaws in Pacquiao’s current fighting style, especially if Pacquiao told him that he planned on using this same old fighting style against Mayweather in their fight on HBO and Showtime pay-per-view on May 2nd.

It’s not news that Pacquiao needs to try a new style for the Mayweather fight if he doesn’t want a boxing lesson in front of the entire world, and if he doesn’t want to potentially get knocked out cold by him.

Mayweather is going to have no problems figuring out and nullifying Pacquiao’s in and out attacks if that’s the plan that Pacquiao is going to be using. Donaire thinks Pacquiao should use this style despite the fact that it’s the same style that Pacquiao has used for the past 20 years as a pro. That’s like someone throwing a curveball to a hitter who is waiting on that pitch to nail it over the fence for a home run. Pacquiao needs to come up with some new ideas, I think. If he bum rushes Mayweather on May 2nd, I can see him knocking Pacquiao clean out like Marquez did.