Diaz: I knew Mayweather was going to out-box Pacquiao

1
1091
AP Photo
AP Photo
John Locher/Associated Press

Joel Diaz is the trainer of Tim Bradley and has twice gone head-to-head with Manny Pacquiao. So when it came down to a fight with Floyd Mayweather, Joel Diaz knew how the fight was going to play out.

“That fight I could honestly tell you that it went as I planned it,” Diaz told On The Ropes Boxing. “I’m never interested in doing research and going back and looking at videos and just analyzing weights and analyzing styles everything and I did. I actually took my time way before the fight, and I said, ‘I want to analyze this fight going into the ring.’“

So when the bout took place on May 2nd, Diaz wasn’t surprised at the outcome.

“Exactly the way I called it, that’s the way it happened,” Diaz said. “That’s why I wasn’t surprised. It was disappointing for the people, but I was already expecting it. Just going back and figuring that Mayweather is a natural welterweight and Pacquiao is not. Pacquiao is a small welterweight. Matching the same opponents they fought and due to the outcomes, and going on styles.”

Although Pacquiao is known for his aggression, Diaz felt that Mayweather counteracted everything Pacquiao did effectively.

“I always said Manny Pacquiao had speed and power but he is reckless, and Mayweather knows the sweet science of boxing, which is hit and don’t get hit. I said from the beginning that Mayweather was going to dictate the pace of the fight from the beginning. Once that first round, once that bell starts in the first round, he’s going to see if Pacquiao is a threat. He’s going to put his undefeated record in jeopardy; he’s going to pick and move and just put rounds in his pocket and walk away regardless of what people in the world think.”

Diaz knew Mayweather was going to pot shot and move the whole night.

“If he feels that he can take the punch from Pacquiao, and he could stand in front of him, he’s going to do it to please the people for a little bit, but other than that, Mayweather is going to get in there and just pick and move, and at points if he feels a little threatened he is going to pick and move and then hold, and that’s exactly what happened.”