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What Manny Pacquiao can dish out, David Diaz can dish out better.
This was the belief of Diaz chief trainer and manager Jim Strickland, who told Neil Milbert of the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday that while the Filipino lefty "is a tremendous fighter with fast hands," they have already devised a plan that will prove crucial in the June 28 battle in Las Vegas.
"What we’re training for is if he (Pacquiao) hits us with a three-punch combination, we’re going to hit him back with a four-punch combination. If he hits us hard, we’re going to hit him harder," said Strickland.
Diaz, making only the second defense of the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight crown, is also upbeat about his chances of staving off Pacquioao’s bold bid to knock the 135-lb crown off the Chicago native’s head.
"I will beat Manny at his own game — power for power," said Diaz, who holds a 34-1-1 win-loss-draw record with 17 knockouts.
"This is going to be an all-out war," Diaz told Roman Modrowski of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Manny is a straight-forward fighter, as am I. We’re both going to go at it, but the only thing that’s going to happen is I’m going to win. We’re going to bring the belt back to Chicago"
Pacquiao, who has a 463-2 mark with 35 knockouts, was tight-lipped about what he thought about the outcome but assured fight fans that he will not let them down.
Top Rank head Bob Arum, living up to his role as promoter of the scheduled 12-rounder at Mandalay Bay dubbed ‘‘Lethal Combination," is of the opinion that the fight is going to the distance.
"I don’t think David has the power to knock Manny out and I don’t think Manny, fighting a bigger stronger guy with a rocksolid chin, can knock David out," Arum told the Tribune.
"Each of them wins by overwhelming his opponent. David throws a voluminous amount of punches and he seems to have a tremendous reservoir of energy. In Manny, he’s fighting a guy who never stops throwing punches and is fast as the devil."
While Pacquiao has the obvious edge in quickness, it doesn’t follow that he will win easily, according to Arum.
"Speed usually wins, (but Pacquiao is) fighting a naturally bigger and stronger kid. That’s a big advantage for David. Manny appears to have more punching power, but that was against lighter weight guys. So, will his power punching be effective against a bigger guy? It’s going to be a battle of attrition. ... The guy who loses the energy first is going to lose the fight," added Arum.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao will hold his second sparring session on Thursday afternoon (Friday morning in Manila) at the Wild Card Boxing Club.
Tapped by Wild Card guru Freddie Roach to help in the training are American lightweight Steven Quinones and British welter Gary McMillan, both southpaws who had worked five rounds total with Pacquiao last Tuesday, just before Pacquiao flew to Chicago from Burbank.
Pacquiao was joined in the private plane from Million Air by Arum, Roach, Canadian boxing agent Mike Koncz, training assistant Buboy Fernandez and HBO Sports executive Tony Walker.
This was the belief of Diaz chief trainer and manager Jim Strickland, who told Neil Milbert of the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday that while the Filipino lefty "is a tremendous fighter with fast hands," they have already devised a plan that will prove crucial in the June 28 battle in Las Vegas.
"What we’re training for is if he (Pacquiao) hits us with a three-punch combination, we’re going to hit him back with a four-punch combination. If he hits us hard, we’re going to hit him harder," said Strickland.
Diaz, making only the second defense of the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight crown, is also upbeat about his chances of staving off Pacquioao’s bold bid to knock the 135-lb crown off the Chicago native’s head.
"I will beat Manny at his own game — power for power," said Diaz, who holds a 34-1-1 win-loss-draw record with 17 knockouts.
"This is going to be an all-out war," Diaz told Roman Modrowski of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Manny is a straight-forward fighter, as am I. We’re both going to go at it, but the only thing that’s going to happen is I’m going to win. We’re going to bring the belt back to Chicago"
Pacquiao, who has a 463-2 mark with 35 knockouts, was tight-lipped about what he thought about the outcome but assured fight fans that he will not let them down.
Top Rank head Bob Arum, living up to his role as promoter of the scheduled 12-rounder at Mandalay Bay dubbed ‘‘Lethal Combination," is of the opinion that the fight is going to the distance.
"I don’t think David has the power to knock Manny out and I don’t think Manny, fighting a bigger stronger guy with a rocksolid chin, can knock David out," Arum told the Tribune.
"Each of them wins by overwhelming his opponent. David throws a voluminous amount of punches and he seems to have a tremendous reservoir of energy. In Manny, he’s fighting a guy who never stops throwing punches and is fast as the devil."
While Pacquiao has the obvious edge in quickness, it doesn’t follow that he will win easily, according to Arum.
"Speed usually wins, (but Pacquiao is) fighting a naturally bigger and stronger kid. That’s a big advantage for David. Manny appears to have more punching power, but that was against lighter weight guys. So, will his power punching be effective against a bigger guy? It’s going to be a battle of attrition. ... The guy who loses the energy first is going to lose the fight," added Arum.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao will hold his second sparring session on Thursday afternoon (Friday morning in Manila) at the Wild Card Boxing Club.
Tapped by Wild Card guru Freddie Roach to help in the training are American lightweight Steven Quinones and British welter Gary McMillan, both southpaws who had worked five rounds total with Pacquiao last Tuesday, just before Pacquiao flew to Chicago from Burbank.
Pacquiao was joined in the private plane from Million Air by Arum, Roach, Canadian boxing agent Mike Koncz, training assistant Buboy Fernandez and HBO Sports executive Tony Walker.
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