Manny Pacquiao shows his body to select journalists after training at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood, CA on Thursday afternoon, 23 April 2015. Photo by Rem Zamora. See more at FRAME
HOLLYWOOD—If Floyd Mayweather sticks to his original fight blueprint, Manny Pacquiao will find a way to crack it.
This is the belief of many ring pundits who think the plan hatched by Team Mayweather in secrecy is vulnerable to Pacquiao’s repeated attacks.
As reported by guardian TV, Mayweather’s strategy involves a feeling-out period in the first two rounds, where Pacquiao is expected to pour on the heat.
In that stretch, Mayweather will try to feel Pacquiao’s rhythm, the number and speed of punches he throws and from where they come from.
If he sees an opening, Mayweather will try to nail Pacquiao with a power shot as he comes in, perhaps lifting the idea from the right straight delivered by Juan Manuel Marquez that knocked out the Filipino champ in their fourth battle in 2012.
Eventually, however, Mayweather will be forced to stand and engage, leaning heavily on his vaunted shoulder roll to thwart Pacquiao’s aggression up to the late rounds.
If the intention, however, is to wear Pacquiao down and take the offensive in the last minute of each round, then they have another thing coming.
Pacquiao is prepared for an all-out war and doesn’t intend to give Mayweather breathing room.
Freddie Roach’s instruction is for Pacquiao to win each round, pile up the points and cruise to victory.
The idea is, if Mayweather lags behind, he’ll be forced to do battle with Pacquiao, who’ll overwhelm him with combinations thrown from all over.
Mayweather can’t hope to catch Pacquiao napping though as the Filipino icon had trained hard and ran long distances to sustain his firepower up to the very end.
According to Roach, the set-up jab will be Pacquiao’s primary weapon, though they’ve worked on a “secret weapon” at the gym.
It will be revealed before fight night, when Team Mayweather has no more time to react and counter.
Experts contend that Team Mayweather better have a plan B or even C as plan A is bound to fail.
Even if they have alternatives, however, Team Pacquiao will also have a ready answer, they added.