Mayweather cutman says Pacquiao not the same fighter he once was
LAS VEGAS — Though Rafael Garcia doesn’t consider his job easy despite serving as a cutman to a boxer who hardly gets hit, the Mexican cornerman doesn’t see himself doing much when Floyd Mayweather Jr. faces his greatest challenge yet in Manny Pacquiao on Saturday.
“There is no easy job. But he (Mayweather) is the best boxer in the business now and I don’t see him getting hit by Pacquiao,” Garcia, who was asked to rejoin Mayweather’s camp after a minor falling out last year, said on Tuesday shortly after Mayweather’s Grand Arrival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here.
Mayweather earned the nickname “Pretty Boy” for his ability to keep his face unscathed every time he fights. Garcia said it was normal for boxers to sustain cuts and in fact, the last time Mayweather suffered one was during his rematch with Argentine Marcos Maidana last year.
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Mayweather won that fight by unanimous decision to extend his unbeaten record to 47-0 and Garcia believes the top pound-for-pound fighter today will roll to his 48th victory against Pacquiao.
“We wanna beat him no matter how,” said Garcia, who could see Mayweather winning by knockout.
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Garcia’s confidence in Mayweather comes in his belief that Pacquiao has not been the same fighter he once was since being knocked out cold by Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth meeting in 2012.
“I don’t believe Pacquiao is the same after that knockout against Marquez. Never. No matter who he is, no fighter can be good again or get back the kind of confidence he has as before,” he said.
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Garcia, who is also in charge of wrapping the welterweight champion’s hands, also described Mayweather as a “beautiful person” outside the ring and added that the five-division world champion is just often “misunderstood.”
“He’s a completely different person outside the ring.”
