How do you beat Mayweather Jr.? By strength and speed, says Roach

“We'll use our strength and out speed to deal with him,” Roach told DogHouseBoxing.com’s Gabriel Montoya. Roach admitted that the former pound-for-pound king does have slick move inside the ring but he believes Pacquiao still has the edge. “I know he's fast, also. But I think we go the upper hand on speed and I think we're a more powerful puncher,” said the celebrated boxing trainer. When asked about Pacquiao’s chances against Mayweather Jr., Roach made a comparison between both fighter’s matches against de la Hoya. “He struggled to beat Oscar and we dominated Oscar So I think we'll be favored going into the fight and I look forward to it,” said Roach. ‘Pretty Boy hates pressure’ Roach, who engineered Pacquiao’s victory over de la Hoya, said Mayweather Jr. has problems in handling pressure fighters. “You know, Floyd? He doesn't like pressure. One fight where I thought he lost was the fight with Castillo the first time,” he said. Roach said they could score heavy hits by pressuring Mayweather Jr. with speed and strength. “We'll pressure him. If he lays on the ropes with Pacquiao we'll beat the shit out of him on the ropes. He's not getting away with rolling the shoulders and so forth,” said the US trainer. He, however, said that Pacquiao would have to do the attack with extra caution since Mayweather Jr. also moves quick. “Manny's thing would have to be land combinations and get out of the way, because Mayweather's got that speed. So it would be a much more difficult task than this one (de la Hoya fight)," he said. So I think we'll be favored going into the fight I would beat 10 G's, my car, and everything I have in real life. on Mayweather if they made him a 2 to 1 underdog in this fight.. PLEASE GOD PLEASE let mayweather be a 2 to 1 underdog.....

larry merchant said that floyd boxes as naturally as a fish swims. george forman says that floyd is the best natural fighter around, and this was when he was at 130 and 140, they know. boxing comes very easy to floyd. he knows how to beat any fighter, bar none.

upperbody movement is where floyd is at his best, he an position his upperbody very well while moving backwards or forwards, which is something manny would find too much to handle. floyd has a extremely brilliant mindset, manny can't beat him, period. and upperbody movement is only one of many floyd has over manny.

I talked to my pops the other day (who was a world class boxer) and he said that there is NO WAY you can try to BOX Lil Floyd and beat him. The reason is because the kid is so talented and boxing has become 2nd nature to him. But he said the way you beat him (or try at least) is to FIGHT him. Even with that said, pops doesn't see any fighters out today that could beat him...

I have an entire thread on the topic of Manny beating Floyd... apparently everyone except Floyd nuthuggers think its a good read... Take a look. I have lots of good points as to why Manny would win. http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4465755#post4465755

I don't think Mayweather could make 135 anymore. probably 140 at most. I would love the fight to happen though no matter if its at 140 or 147. exactly. i don't want ling ling to lose to floyd...... :(

This is one of the best analysis of the fight i have ever read, far better than my own. I am at work and i seriously took the time to bust out my laptop, and really read into what was being said. Looking at the pac-diaz fight, you are right, he does square up to unload alot of his combinations, and he has been in with a few opponents lately who fall into his game of exchanging, granted honestly, a guy like diaz had no chance going into the fight, which is why i honestly didint care to order it. Looking at the de la hoya fight, you are right about de la hoyas strategy, another thing i wanted to point out to you in that fight is that for whatever reason, de la hoya does not fight tall. He crouches to a smaller fighters posture, i dont know why the hell he does this, but he does. Regardless, it made him an easier target for not just pacman, but forbes as well. I seriously think that the de la hoya fight made pacman look alot faster than he really is, however, even if pacman wins the speed argument against mayweather, mayweathers jab to the body is an outstanding weapon, but one punch you didint mention was his famed right hand lead, which could offset ALOT of what pacman may want to do. In all honesty, i dont count pacman out. Buts its going to take more than aggression, mayweather just seems to thrive when guys come right at him. I still, to this day, feel zab judah was the one guy who could have really beat mayweather, what you are talking about with the southpaw trouble is exactly what happened against zab, until mayweather adjusted midfight. Alot of people say Zab gased, but mayweather seriously adjusted and started taking it to him. That fight was awesome, even if zab is an underachiever. Hey EJ, thank you very much, glad you dug it. That's flattering coming from you. :fing02: The Oscar fight has made people overestimate what Pac is capable of, and while he is a brilliant fighter and cannot be overlooked for any fight against any fighter, I think many are starting to make him out to be a new defensive genius, hard to hit with amazing lateral movement comparable to Hopkins or Whitaker. Blazingly fast hands like Jones Jr in his prime and of course the boxing skill to beat Mayweather without getting hit by him:lol1: Well, it may not have gone that far, but it's getting there! He is very fast, and he has improved his skill, he has shown that against someone that has no movement whatsoever he is fast and can move laterally, or that he can throw lightning fast combinations against someone that is not throwing back. His last two fights were masterpieces against those type of fighters. He had the same skills against his last fight against Marquez and of course that didn't go down much like either of these fights. He may have gotten even better at his footwork, but what happens when he comes in against someone that takes one step to the side when he skips forward quickly pumping out the jab? His main lead in is still the same as it's ever been. Against someone that is a counter puncher it is very difficult to do those same things he has shown in his last two fights. Against that stationary target his side to side movement is quick and agile, but against someone that fights off the back foot, to use that movement is much, much harder and I can nearly guarantee that we won't see that if they did fight. You can't count Pac out simply because he's been very active, has carried his speed and power up and is a southpaw whereas Mayweather has now been inactive for quite a long time. Nonetheless, everyone is looking at the future fight between these two and seeing the Pac that was in against Oscar, someone who had no legs, no defense, no movement and was himselkf expecting to go in and walk Pac down and blow him out. It will so vastly different that people will probably end up saying weird things like "Pac wasn't in there tonight. It wasn't the same guy that fought Oscar", but when you suddenly rush in against someone that steps to the side, brings up the shoulder and shoots a shot straight through your guard as you're getting ready to throw a combo, it also suddenly dawns on you that rushing in and out won't work. When you're an aggressive fighter with some movement against an aggressive fighter with none, you're going to look spectacular. When you're in with a defensive counter puncher, you are going to suddenly look like the guy with no movement.

manny by check right hook! :) floyd-pac at 135 for the wbc belt in 2009. :dance: I don't think Mayweather could make 135 anymore. probably 140 at most. I would love the fight to happen though no matter if its at 140 or 147.

manny by check right hook! :) floyd-pac at 135 for the wbc belt in 2009. :dance:

Well, the only problem with that is that Pac won't have the strength or speed advantage. As Hatton found out, to his obvious dismay, Mayweather is a hell of a lot stronger than he looks and he is strongest on the inside. He would be a lot stronger than Pac would having fought at the higher weights for much longer as well. The speed thing, well, that's very debatable. I would still say that Mayweather has an obvious speed advantage. Pac may look faster because he throws actual flurries of punches but his punch speed is not as quick as Mayweather's. Also, on Roach saying that the shoulder roll won't work with Pac, I think he may have missed a very important point here. Against a southpaw, it can be very difficult to use the shoulder roll effectively., but that's on a southpaw like Whitaker who keeps his right shoulder forward and never squares up. The problem with Pac fighting Mayweather if he is on the ropes will be that he will square up and any straight left that comes in can be countered by his own right either after he ducks down or off a left hook or roll. Also, Pac would struggle to land anything like he did against Oscar. Oscar was using his classic high guard and trying to jab straight as he would against a righty. You need to keep the jab pushing down against a southpaw like Pac. Pac's jab is a range finder and more of a pawing jab which can easily be countered by pushing it down with your own jab and then shooting over the top with the counter jab. Because Oscar himself was square and his guard high it made Pac's left a very strong weapon, whereas if his right jab was being pushed down and Mayweather was not squaring up, which he wouldn't, then it means he could land his own jab over the top and set up his own straight right with the perfect angle and distraction right behind the jab. On the jab again, one weapon that could also be a big advantage for Mayweather is the jab to the body. He has a very good one and sometimes forgets to use it, but I think it would be very effective against Pac. Of course Mayweather's body work in general is very good and we saw that Manny can be hurt to the body and if Mayweather made a point of going early to the body mixing up lead rights, jab's and the left, it could really take the steam out of Pac. What I see making this closer than it normally would be is that Mayweather struggles innately with southpaws and also with the ring rust from inactivity it could make it quite close. Well, that is all we can hope for anyway. I would still prefer to see Pac in with Hatton first though. This is one of the best analysis of the fight i have ever read, far better than my own. I am at work and i seriously took the time to bust out my laptop, and really read into what was being said. Looking at the pac-diaz fight, you are right, he does square up to unload alot of his combinations, and he has been in with a few opponents lately who fall into his game of exchanging, granted honestly, a guy like diaz had no chance going into the fight, which is why i honestly didint care to order it. Looking at the de la hoya fight, you are right about de la hoyas strategy, another thing i wanted to point out to you in that fight is that for whatever reason, de la hoya does not fight tall. He crouches to a smaller fighters posture, i dont know why the hell he does this, but he does. Regardless, it made him an easier target for not just pacman, but forbes as well. I seriously think that the de la hoya fight made pacman look alot faster than he really is, however, even if pacman wins the speed argument against mayweather, mayweathers jab to the body is an outstanding weapon, but one punch you didint mention was his famed right hand lead, which could offset ALOT of what pacman may want to do. In all honesty, i dont count pacman out. Buts its going to take more than aggression, mayweather just seems to thrive when guys come right at him. I still, to this day, feel zab judah was the one guy who could have really beat mayweather, what you are talking about with the southpaw trouble is exactly what happened against zab, until mayweather adjusted midfight. Alot of people say Zab gased, but mayweather seriously adjusted and started taking it to him. That fight was awesome, even if zab is an underachiever.

Roach's confidence and analysis on how to beat Mayweather is really hyping me up for this fight! Want to see if his assumptions on how beat Mayweather come true! hope it can happen! either that or mayweather cotto or mayweather margarito but floyd will beat cotto, but lose to Tony

I completely agree, I would like to add that you have to take Mayweather out of his comfort zone and make him do stuff that he does not want to do against a certain opponent. It is hard because Mayweather has a lot of options in the ring, but if you can limit his options you can greatly improve your chances of winning. I agree, but as you said, it's hard to take Mayweather out of his comfort zone because of his versatility, and most of his opponents are get preoccupied with trying to stay in their comfort zone against him, maybe only 2 guys have really been able to frustrate Mayweather and they were Castillo in their first fight and Augustus. He was injured against Castillo though.

Pacquiao would have to have plans A, B, C and D against Mayweather, he can't just go in there with 1 gameplan and expect to win because Mayweather will figure him out, he'll need a bit of everything against Mayweather. And Mayweather has fought more pressure fighters than Castillo and has dealt with them well, he even dealt with Castillo well in their second fight when he was healthy. I completely agree, I would like to add that you have to take Mayweather out of his comfort zone and make him do stuff that he does not want to do against a certain opponent. It is hard because Mayweather has a lot of options in the ring, but if you can limit his options you can greatly improve your chances of winning.

Well, the only problem with that is that Pac won't have the strength or speed advantage. As Hatton found out, to his obvious dismay, Mayweather is a hell of a lot stronger than he looks and he is strongest on the inside. He would be a lot stronger than Pac would having fought at the higher weights for much longer as well. The speed thing, well, that's very debatable. I would still say that Mayweather has an obvious speed advantage. Pac may look faster because he throws actual flurries of punches but his punch speed is not as quick as Mayweather's. Also, on Roach saying that the shoulder roll won't work with Pac, I think he may have missed a very important point here. Against a southpaw, it can be very difficult to use the shoulder roll effectively., but that's on a southpaw like Whitaker who keeps his right shoulder forward and never squares up. The problem with Pac fighting Mayweather if he is on the ropes will be that he will square up and any straight left that comes in can be countered by his own right either after he ducks down or off a left hook or roll. Also, Pac would struggle to land anything like he did against Oscar. Oscar was using his classic high guard and trying to jab straight as he would against a righty. You need to keep the jab pushing down against a southpaw like Pac. Pac's jab is a range finder and more of a pawing jab which can easily be countered by pushing it down with your own jab and then shooting over the top with the counter jab. Because Oscar himself was square and his guard high it made Pac's left a very strong weapon, whereas if his right jab was being pushed down and Mayweather was not squaring up, which he wouldn't, then it means he could land his own jab over the top and set up his own straight right with the perfect angle and distraction right behind the jab. On the jab again, one weapon that could also be a big advantage for Mayweather is the jab to the body. He has a very good one and sometimes forgets to use it, but I think it would be very effective against Pac. Of course Mayweather's body work in general is very good and we saw that Manny can be hurt to the body and if Mayweather made a point of going early to the body mixing up lead rights, jab's and the left, it could really take the steam out of Pac. What I see making this closer than it normally would be is that Mayweather struggles innately with southpaws and also with the ring rust from inactivity it could make it quite close. Well, that is all we can hope for anyway. I would still prefer to see Pac in with Hatton first though.

Pacquiao would have to have plans A, B, C and D against Mayweather, he can't just go in there with 1 gameplan and expect to win because Mayweather will figure him out, he'll need a bit of everything against Mayweather. And Mayweather has fought more pressure fighters than Castillo and has dealt with them well, he even dealt with Castillo well in their second fight when he was healthy.

you need to be faster, smarter and have better skills to beat pbf. hatton was stronger than floid, so was dlh, they both lost. manny is faster, but just speed isn't enough Manny has overall speed: Hands and feet. He can jump in and out quickly while landing flurries with power. This is where Floyd's timing will have to come into play, as well as using the jab and straight right. I wonder if Floyd is fast enough still to get the uppercut to work. I'm sure Floyd will start to bang that body as well, which will be interesting to see how long Manny can last. I'm sure people will bring up the "Check-left-hook." LOL How do you stop aggression? The Check-left hook. Can't wait to here it 100x in 5 minutes. Floyd needs to fight from round 1; bottom line.

who knows maybe freddy knows it all... his the one who trained manny not you...

you need to be faster, smarter and have better skills to beat pbf. hatton was stronger than floid, so was dlh, they both lost. manny is faster, but just speed isn't enough

If Roach is so confident...then why is he talkin about a catchweight? Ain't that a bitch move? You fight DLH at 147 but don't want the Mayweather fight at 147? The catch-weight will help with both he and Manny's confidence. I called it a bitch move as well, so I agree with you. It's all a part of the winning the war which starts in negotiations. I hope Floyd doesn't cave like he did with Oscar. So I heard Roach made sure Floyd only wrapped his hands a certain way when he fought Oscar. Which means, expect Floyd not to be allowed to wrap his hands to protect them as well as having to wear "Reyes" gloves again. One story line had said Floyd hurt his hand again in the Oscar fight but didn't make a big deal about it. They need to have a camera in the negotiation room and put it either on HBO or ESPN; I need a laugh.

OH SHIT, Freddie might pull a Hatton; I was afraid of this. “He struggled to beat Oscar and we dominated Oscar So I think we'll be favored going into the fight and I look forward to it,” Ah, yes Freddie but Oscar was one year old and weight-drained. Remember Freddie what you yourself said. Like I said, this reminds me of the Hatton vs. Tszyu pre-and-post thoughts and ego. “You know, Floyd? He doesn't like pressure. One fight where I thought he lost was the fight with Castillo the first time,” he said. Again, Hatton's Roberto Duran vs. Leonard (I). Freddie, didn't you know why Floyd didn't look good in the first fight? How about an injured shoulder. You did see the second fight right? I wondered the same with Hatton with Leonard vs. Duran II. “I know he's fast, also. But I think we go the upper hand on speed and I think we're a more powerful puncher,” said the celebrated boxing trainer I agree with the speed part: Manny is faster, however; Floyd has better timing which counts for a lot, especially when someone is faster. Unless Floyd's timing is off, as well as his other attributes, don't get to confident on this Freddie. "More Powerful": I actually doubt that. Freddie seems to think Pac is more powerful than both Oscar and I think one time I thought I heard him say Manny hit harder than Tyson on the pads. Anyway, my point is this: This fight with Oscar may have just blown Freddie's Ego Sky-high like Hatton's victory over Tszyu did for Ricky. They always forget what their thoughts were before the fight and should reread their comments and position to prevent over-confidence. I do agree with some other points and have said Floyd can be at a disadvantage by fight time next year against Manny Pac. Hatton was getting to Floyd early because of his sped and aggression. Floyd took the route of caution. If he would have moved and popped that jab, followed by combos, he would have had an easier time. Not an easy time, but an easier time than what he got himself into.