“I think it’s a great fight, but I still think Floyd is too smart for Manny, Manny makes too many mistakes.”
This is the basis on which renowned trainer Abel Sanchez -who is currently directing middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s path of destruction. Sanchez has made his pick for the upcoming super fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr(47-0, 26KO’s) and Manny Pacquiao(57-5-2, 38KO’s) on May 2nd in Las Vegas.
“Mayweather, unanimous decision.”
The WBA Super, WBC and WBO World welterweight titles will all be up for grabs on the night. By Sanchez’s reckoning, Mayweather will be weighed down by all the gold on his way out of the ring. Speaking with a member of the Esnewsreporting.com team he outlined what he feels is the undefeated champion’s best quality, and what will take him to victory on the night.
“I think his biggest asset is his intelligence in the ring and his patience of waiting for you to make a mistake and capitalising on it.”
It’s basic addition; a fighter who makes plenty of mistakes in Pacquiao. Plus a man who is pretty much unequalled in his ability to capitalise on said mistakes in Mayweather. This logic can only equate to a long, frustrating evening for Pacquiao when they tangle.
As well as choosing a winner for the fight Sanchez had given his thoughts on the subject of Mayweather’s corner team. Mayweather’s 2012 meeting with Miguel Cotto, in which the formerly named ‘Pretty Boy’ shocked the world by showing us he could bleed his own blood. That day marked the last appearance of his uncle, Roger Mayweather as the chief cornerman. In his four appearances since then his father Floyd Sr has taken the reigns, something Sanchez feels was a misstep.
“I was hoping to see Roger more involved in the corner, I think Roger makes a big difference in the corner for Floyd. He’s a lot more in-tune with what’s going on inside the fight, and he’s able to give directions the way they should be done.”
If those words didn’t come from someone with such an impressive resume as a trainer I wouldn’t heed them too much. After all, in the first two fights with his Dad in the corner against Robert Guerrero and Saul Alvarez, Mayweather was absolutely flawless. He showed a refusal to take more than a handful of clean punches in either bout and Senior received many plaudits for his role in this. Only, in his next two bouts against Marcos Maidana, Mayweather looked frighteningly near human. The Argentine slugger was able to rush and crowd him consistently, sometimes landing hard and effective blows even without any mentionable hand speed.
Father and son will again team up to take on the biggest assignment of their lives against Pacquiao. The question is if Pacquaio somehow manages to unhinge Mayweather. To make him somehow lose composure with his awkward style and fast combinations, will his father be able to steady the ship between rounds and get him back on course? We’ve seen very little evidence of Mayweather breaking mentally but we got a hint of it in against Maidana, where he suffered the very first cut of a long career at the end of round four in their first fight. He seemed panicked as he repeatedly moaned ‘I can’t see.’ It resulted from a clash of heads, but the only advice he received in the corner from Old Man Mayweather was ‘keep your hands up Floyd.’
