By Edward Chaykovsky
Joel Diaz, trainer of former two-division world champion Timothy Bradley, says Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26KOs) has significantly aged in the ring.
Diaz carefully reviewed Mayweather's two-fight series with Maidana, where the pound-for-pound king pulled out twelve round decision victories. He felt Mayweather was not the same fighter who even last year dominated Robert Guerrero and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in distance fights.
Two years ago, Diaz would have easily picked Mayweather to defeat Manny Pacquiao. Now, he says the matchup is a 50-50 proposition.
"I saw Mayweather in his last two fights and he diminished a lot, his ability diminished a lot. You can tell when with Maidana after the third round, Mayweather became a different Mayweather. If two years ago that fight had would have happened, I would go Mayweather because Mayweather is very slick, he has great reflexes, he’s a great counter puncher and Mayweather waits for you to make a mistake and makes you pay for it," Diaz told On The Ropes Boxing Radio .
"On the other hand, Manny Pacquiao is reckless, when he unloads he’s reckless, he opens up a lot and those particular areas Mayweather is real smart at. Right now if that fight would happen, it’s an even fight, it’s a 50-50 because Mayweather slowed down a lot. I don’t know if age is catching up to him and Manny Pacquiao is at that point where it’s whoever wants it the most."
