HOLLYWOOD—This is no trash talk from Freddie Roach.
Manny Pacquiao’s chief trainer yesterday said that for all his reputation as a defensive genius and tremendous counterpuncher, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is far from infallible.
Roach said that Mayweather commits too many mistakes in the ring—lapses that he expects Pacquiao to pounce on in their gigantic welterweight title unification clash on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“He makes so many mistakes,” said Roach of the unbeaten pound-for-pound king. “He’s gifted but he makes a lot of mistakes.”
The 55-year-old Roach, a seven-time Trainer of the Year awardee, cited specific examples.
“He rolls but he doesn’t counter,” said Roach, himself a former topnotch boxer. “He doesn’t come back with what that roll created. Those are things that Eddie (Roach’s late trainer, Futch) taught me but I wasn’t talented enough.”
While agreeing that Mayweather has the talent to dominate his foes, Roach said he will have his hands full against Pacquiao.
Aside from being a southpaw, Pacquiao delivers punches in bunches, many coming in weird angles, and are too fast to be deflected, Roach said.
He noted that Mayweather has a low knockout rate (55.52 percent) because “he doesn’t finish the job.”
“The best thing [Mayweather] does is feint—he’s the best feinter in the world,” said Roach, who claims to have come up with a plan to halt Mayweather’s unbeaten run.
All that Pacquiao needs to do is listen to him on fight night and execute the game plan, he said.
Mayweather himself has described Pacquiao, who has been beaten five times, the last via a sixth-round knockout by Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012, as mistake-laden and reckless.