By Chris Williams: Tonight we’ll be seeing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao putting it on the line in their fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather says he’ll be increasing his punch volume for this fight by throwing a lot more combinations than he has in the past.
Mayweather also said that he’s punching with a lot more power now, and he’s going to be using that power to inflict punishment against Pacquiao.
Mayweather will be coming forward all night long looking to force Pacquiao into a war. We saw in Pacquiao’s fights against Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley that Pacquiao isn’t the same fighter when his opponent comes after him looking to take his head off.
Both Bradley and Marquez had a lot of success fighting Pacquiao in this manner. Marquez dropped Pacquiao and then knocked him out in 2012. Bradley almost beat Pacquiao in their rematch in 2014.
There’s no question that Mayweather has looked at Pacquiao’s last fight against Chris Algieri and realized that it won’t work if he fights backing up all night long or standing still. Pacquiao will be able to chase Mayweather is uses movement, and the judges will almost definitely give rounds to Pacquiao just based on aggression rather than landed punches.
We saw that with Pacquiao’s first three fights against Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao landed next to nothing in those fights, yet the judges gave him many rounds anyway. It didn’t matter that his punches were being blocked on the guard of Marquez. Pacquiao was still given rounds on aggression.
“Every time I go out there I’m comfortable, Mayweather said to ESPN. “I’m more comfortable for this fight than I was in the past. Me and my father [Floyd Mayweather Sr.], our chemistry is where it needs to be. We’re looking to throw a lot more combinations in this fight. I’m going to be a lot stronger. A lot stronger.”
Mayweather has worked a lot with his strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza to increase his punching power for this fight and it appears that the hard work has paid off. Depending on how much stronger Mayweather is for this fight, we could see him inflict a lot of punishment and possibly score a knockout by the mid rounds.
“When he fought Oscar De La Hoya, he made him come down to 145,” Mayweather said. He was drained going into that fight, and you let him take you eight rounds, a dead man. I hold the WBC at 147. I hold the WBC at 154. I hold the WBA at 154 and the WBA at 147. That’s something that’s never been done in boxing history. This fight is very intriguing because there’s a question mark, because of anybody who has a chance of beating Floyd Mayweather Jr., this is the guy. That’s why everybody should tune in. I know I can’t overlook this guy.”
This will be a very interesting fight because we’re going to see Mayweather in his forward gear like we saw him against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Victor Ortiz. Mayweather has the size, reach, weight advantage, accuracy and the overall better boxing skills.
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