By Allan Fox: Gary Russell Jr predicts that Errol Spence Jr won’t beat Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) if their fight goes to the scorecards on August 21st. Manny is showing a lot of courage in choosing to face Spence off a two-year-old layoff.
Pacquiao could have taken an easy match against Mikey Garcia and made good money in a safe fight.
Instead, Pacquiao has signed up to take on arguably the #1 welterweight in the division in Errol Spence Jr on August 21st, and he may be sorry for it later.
If Spence, 31, agrees with what WBC featherweight champion Russell Jr is saying about needing a knockout to beat the superstar Pacquiao, we could see him going all out from the opening round to take him out.
Spence will be defending against the inactive former eight-division world champion Pacquiao on FOX Sports pay-per-view in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Russell sees the 42-year-old Pacquiao’s high work rate and his countering ability being a major factor in him piling up rounds to win a decision over IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence (27-0, 21 KOs).
Spence’s ability to throw to the body could give Pacquiao massive problems because he’s had problems in the past when facing body punchers.
Pacquiao can take a good shot to the head, but he’s more than human when he’s hit with body shots.
Pacquiao can make Spence pay
“Errol is bigger, he’s physically stronger, etc.,” said Gary Russell Jr to Fighthub on the Spence vs. Pacquiao fight. “What normally happens when you fight a stronger guy or a guy that’s bigger.
“A lot of people know Chris Byrd. Chris Byrd was never a hell of a puncher at heavyweight, but what Chris Byrd did to nullify a lot of guys was that whenever they did throw punches, and they overcommitted, he made them pay for it.
“Manny Pacquiao has a punch output that can possibly make Errol pay for certain stuff,” said Russell Jr.
“I don’t think Errol is going to be able to match his punch output. I think Manny Pacquiao will have the ability to rack up the points throughout the fight if Errol doesn’t trap him in the corner and hit him and hurt him,” Russell Jr said.
Pacquiao can and will make Spence pay for any missed punches, but he will need to be ready to get hit right back in return.
With Spence’s competitiveness, along with his size, power, and technical skills, he’ll be looking to nail Pacquiao in return each time he’s caught.
Errol must knockout Pacquiao to win
“If he [Spence] can’t hit him and hurt him, he’ll be in for a long night,” said Russell Jr about Errol needing to hurt Pacquiao for him to win.
“Errol will be in for a long night if he can hit and hurt Pacquiao. I don’t think Errol will win the fight by decision. Errol will win by knockout or stoppage.
“If it goes to decision, I’ll give it to Pacquiao. You can never underestimate anyone in that square.
“If Pacquiao gets beat and gets hurt, it’s OK in my eyes. We’re fighters, we know what we’re signing up for, and he’s one of the best fighters to actually do it.
“And as a fighter, he will want to go out on his shield. Real fighters will want to go out on their shield.
“If I’m going to pass the torch on, I’m going to pass it on to someone that is going to carry this and running the way I did.
‘I think if Errol were to beat Pacquiao, it would be a good passing of the torch.
“And I would be cool and okay with that. I will still have respect for Pacquiao for having the heart and the integrity as a fighter and as a man to put everything on the line against a younger, bigger, stronger guy. I respect stuff like that,” said Russell Jr.
Gary brings up a good point about it likely being difficult for Spence to win a decision against Pacquiao, but he’s leaving out one of the major reasons for it being that way.
Pacquiao’s popularity could influence how the judges score rounds, making it near impossible for Spence to win a decision.
If Spence fights in the lazy technical way he did against Mikey Garcia, he probably won’t win unless he knocks Pacquiao out.
