Manny Pacquiao (right) spars with trainer Freddie Roach. AP FILE PHOTO
HOLLYWOOD—Underestimating Manny Pacquiao will be Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s biggest mistake.
Former Thai world champion Chatchai Sasakul made that assessment Monday when Filipino sportswriters chanced upon him at his friend’s Nat’s Thai Food restaurant, a few steps away from the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
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“He (Mayweather) should not be that confident against Pacquiao,” Sasakul said through an interpreter. “No boxer should ever underestimate Pacquiao because he is special and I learned that the hard way.”
Sasakul staked his WBC flyweight title against Pacquiao at home in 1998 and got knocked out in the eighth round.
“Pacquiao is a very confident man. That was my biggest mistake when I fought Manny in 1998,” said Sasakul, who retired with a record of 65 wins, 40 knockouts, and 4 losses.
Sasakul, now 46 and bespectacled, thinks Mayweather is in for a big surprise.
“I think Mayweather will lose,” said Sasakul, the same man who knocked out Filipino Lito Sisnorio in the eighth round on March 31, 2007. Sisnorio collapsed and died the next day.