By Dan Ambrose: WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao says he looked into the eyes of WBA/WBO welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and saw doubt lurking there. Pacquiao says that he can ready Mayweather’s mind when he looks into his eyes, and what he reads is a fighter who isn’t sure if he’s going to win the fight tonight. Pacquiao says he’s not worried at all about the fight. He has no feelings of worry.
“I can read his mind that ‘maybe this guy [Pacquiao] can beat him and put a one on my record,’” Pacquiao told ESPN. “I’m not worried at all for this fight.”
Seeing doubt in Mayweather’s eyes could mean something if Pacquiao has the skills and right game plan for him to beat Mayweather. But the fear if any that Pacquiao saw in the eyes of Mayweather could evaporate immediately once the bell sounds in the 1st round tonight.
Mayweather has been in countless fights during his pro and amateur career, and he’s not going to stay nervous once he’s fighting. Mayweather is too experienced for him to crumble mentally due to the case of the nerves. He’ll definitely be nervous before the start of the fight, but that’s something that won’t last he instinctively does what he’s been doing his entire career. That’s why Pacquiao is going to need a great game plan for him to win this fight because he can’t count on Mayweather giving him the win by running from the battlefield tonight. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach has done a good job of trying to convince boxing fans that Mayweather didn’t want this fight and was forced into it.
“I felt nothing [during the stare down],” Pacquiao said via Tempo.com.
What Pacquiao is saying he felt no case of the nerves when he looked at Mayweather. He feels very confident about the fight, and feels that he’s got what it takes to win. That confidence that Pacquiao has going for him has been boosted by his 57 wins during his career. Of course, you can make an argument that Mayweather would have a similar if not far better record if he had faced the exact same fighters that Pacquiao has during his career.
It’s hard to picture Mayweather looking to the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Tim Bradley, Medgoen Singsurat, and Rustico Torrecampo. It’s also difficult to imagine Mayweather fighting to a draw against Agapito Sanchez and Marquez. It’s safe to say that if Mayweather had fought the same guys that Pacquiao has fought he’d have a record of 64-0, not 57-5-2 like Pacquiao. That’s why it’s important for Pacquiao to take this fight very seriously against Mayweather, and realize that the confidence that he has from his previous 64 fights mean little now that’s he’s in the ring with someone who would demolished all 64 of his past opponents. In other words, Mayweather is a far better fighter than the guys that Pacquiao has padded his record with during his 20-year-old pro career, and that’s why he has to see this as a much different fight than the ones he’s had during his career.
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