by Edward Chaykovsky
Trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Roger Mayweather are predicting an early knockout. Mayweather Promotions CEO, Leonard Ellerbe, is also laying claim on a knockout win. That strategy is exactly when Freddie Roach wants on May 2nd, when his fighter Manny Pacquiao faces Floyd Mayweather in a WBO/WBC/WBA welterweight unification from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Roach is actually expecting Mayweather to come out swinging, looking to make a statement with a knockout win. They have prepared for that scenario. Roach and Pacquiao are also prepared to overwhelm Mayweather with a high volume of punches, round after round, in order to dominate the score cards.
"You can beat Floyd Mayweather if you outwork him and never give him a chance to do the things he does best," Roach said to Fox Sports. "Manny is punching real hard, but I want him to outscore (Mayweather) in every round. I think we can win a 12-round decision. We want to throw a ton of punches."
"Our volume of combinations is much higher than Mayweather's. Mayweather waits for you to finish your combination and throws back with the big right hand or the check hook, and we're not going to be there for that. We're going to be in and out, and I plan on Manny outscoring him that way."
"Mayweather's legs are shot, and you saw it twice last year. He's not becoming more crowd-pleasing. He just can't move like he used to, so he has to exchange more. As long as we can hit him and then move, Mayweather can't touch us. I can't count on him knocking this guy out, because he really has never been a big puncher at 147. That's because by fight time, most of the guys he's fighting have been 160, and they're just bigger guys."
"For some reason, I have an idea that (Mayweather) is going to come out really quick on us and try to knock Manny out in the first round. I think he's been watching the tape of Manny getting knocked out (by Juan Manuel Marquez). Mayweather does have that big overhand right, or that long right hand. I think he's going to use that against us. We're prepared for that one also. I think Mayweather will come right after us. I hope he does. We're ready."
