INDIAN WELLS — British tennis star and avid boxing fan Andy Murray has weighed in with his prediction for the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather mega fight on May 2.
Murray says American Mayweather has two things in his favor, including the Las Vegas home-crowd advantage. The other is Mayweather’s ability to use his superb defense to build up points if it goes the distance.
“That’s his hometown,” Murray said of the gambling mecca in the Nevada desert. “He’s spoken a little bit about how much he means to the economy of the city.
“If it goes to the scorecards, I would think it would be tough for Pacquiao to win.
Murray spent some time in the Philippines last year where he was able to meet Pacquiao. Having talked to Pacquiao in person he now understands why ‘Pacman’ is so immensely popular in his native country.
“He’s a huge, huge star. You know, the whole country pretty much stops when he fights,” said Murray, who is in Palm Springs to compete in this week’s ATP and WTA Tour Indian Wells tennis tournament.
“I obviously didn’t get to know him well. I only spent five or ten minutes with him. It was a nice experience for me.”
Murray, who is seeded fourth overall, defeated Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 6-1, 6-3 in his opening match on Saturday.
He is coming off a difficult 2014 season after finishing 2013 in historic fashion by becoming the first Brit in 77 years to win Wimbledon.
He spent much of 2014 recovering from back surgery. Murray started to get back into form at the end of 2014 and looks ready to challenge in Indian Wells where his best result was reaching the finals in 2009.
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