England’s Amir Khan. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — British boxer Amir Khan picked Floyd Mayweather Jr. to beat Manny Pacquiao in their anticipated faceoff on May 3 (Manila time).
Khan, who missed out on fighting either of the two welterweight titans, said Mayweather may have something up his sleeve against Pacquiao, “something that we have not seen before.”
READ: Khan says Mayweather took easy way out by fighting Pacquiao instead of him
While some boxers and experts think Mayweather should throw more punches against Pacquiao, Khan sees the pound-for-pound king sticking with what he’s accustomed to which is be on the defensive and just wait for some opening to operate.
“He will be much smarter and he’ll pick his shots a little bit better,” Khan, a former sparring partner of Pacquiao, told Sky Sports. “He’ll make it a little boring at times because Manny, as we know, is a come-forward fighter who likes to do a lot of punches.”
“But Mayweather will try to avoid all those punches and just maybe throw that one shot that will count and then move away again. But time will tell,” Khan, who is eyeing a fight with either Miguel Cotto or Kell Brook this year, added.
READ: Pacquiao plans to baffle Mayweather with punches
As for Pacquiao, Khan said the Filipino boxing legend has to “put pressure” and keep Mayweather on his heels with his relentless approach.
“If Manny wants to really give Mayweather a run for his money, it’s all about putting that pressure on him, having that in-and-out movement and hopefully looking for that one big shot,” the former two-time world champion Khan said.
READ: Pacquiao needs to change his style to beat Mayweather – boxing expert
Pacquiao’s power may have not been the same as several years ago but his left hand coming off his patented one-two combination is still one of the most lethal in the business.
Khan adds the fact that Mayweather has not yet really been tagged solidly throughout his career due to his superb defense.
“We have never seen Mayweather hit with a good shot so with Manny’s speed he needs to get in there, get Mayweather a little bit riled, get rough with him in there, push him around a little bit and throw them big powerful shots,” the 28-year-old Khan said.
With the volume of punches Pacquiao throws round per round, perhaps the eight-division champion at least would be able to land a power shot or two.
And the only question Khan has for Mayweather is “can he take that big shot?” ID