Alright, Now Set The Game Plans!!!

[DLT]

i have class soon, so ill post pac's strategy later

1) feint- mayweather's boxing iq is so high because he watches his opponents very well. his eyes are patient and keen at noticing habbits and nuances. This is not necessarily for a counterpunching opp, but to get the rhythm to dance and dodge (i mean this in the most positive way, defensive styles are awesome imo) for the latter rounds. by feinting, he can provide his eyes with reactions of pac that don't necessarily need a punch thrown. he can't do this long though, pac will catch on at least by the end of round 2.

2) Lead right- bread and butter for scoring the points, maybe even hurting pac. morales was pac's last opponent who is a master at this punch and he beat him convincingly the first time around. mayweather doesn't set up his right with a 1 partially because his opponents were exruciatingly slow compared to him (gatti, marquez, baldomir). although i think he's faster than pac the difference isn't as much and i do think he will have to mix the sole lead right with the 1-2. has to hit and run though, pac has heat.

3) trap pac in a corner- this is going to be dangerous if he tries doing this without establishing the first two things. although his shoulder roll is the best of the business, so is pac's offense and money needs to get the timing and habbits of pac (by first feinting and second scoring) in order to pull this off. if may is successful at defending pac's punches in a corner, pac's chances to land will be diminished that much more. i see this in combination with the lead right landing as points in the bank for money's success.

I too wonder about Floyds straight right in this fight. He usually kills cats with it and x10 when you talking about him against Southpaws. I felt the whole time that he would snap Pac's head back on the regular with this but after rewatching Pac against Cotto, that could be dangerous in this fight. Pac is a great counter puncher now, he's fast, and alot of times he has his body on a lean so that punch maybe really hard to land for Floyd and he could get caught with big counters. I see that as a punch that Floyd uses more in the 2nd half of the fight after he wears Pac down some and makes him slower and less confident

[Doctor_Tenma]

Yeah, at 1st I was saying that Floyd would try to come at him and walk him down like he did all the other Southpaws but I dont feel that way now. If you watched Pac's last 4 fights since he moved up in weight, all those guys were bigger and tried to walk him down. Honestly, Pac looked better as a counter puncher than he did as the stalker. He was killing them when they were coming at him but when he tries to chase them then he still lunges alot, overextends, and losing his balance. I now think Floyd will try to fight him like JMM did except with more jab, and maybe a half foot more space since Floyd has that reach. That way he stays out of range easier and Pac has to overextend alot. Then I see Floyd countering him and making him pay. Later on I see Floyd maybe switching after he has taking something out of Pac and being more on the attack. Should be fun though

I'm glad you changed your mind, I really am. I was stunned to be honest, as soon as I saw Cotto box, Pacquiao seemed very very annoyed and his offense was reduced to "No so great" and Mayweather possibly saw the same also. What also stuck out to me the most was the fact that Cotto's right hand wasn't good enough; as I predicted. For the most part, Cotto faught one-handed.


People need to pay attention to the littleist things because that also matters. For example, Cotto's stance is bent foward and that exposed him to Pacquiao's offense. The best part about all this, Roach is gonna study Mayweather vs. Mitchell, Zab Judah, Corley and come to the conclusion that Mayweather is gonna go in. Instead he'll get a diferent Floyd, one who will try and outbox Pacquiao.

[DLT]

I'm glad you changed your mind, I really am. I was stunned to be honest, as soon as I saw Cotto box, Pacquiao seemed very very annoyed and his offense was reduced to "No so great" and Mayweather possibly saw the same also. What also stuck out to me the most was the fact that Cotto's right hand wasn't good enough; as I predicted. For the most part, Cotto faught one-handed.


People need to pay attention to the littleist things because that also matters. For example, Cotto's stance is bent foward and that exposed him to Pacquiao's offense. The best part about all this, Roach is gonna study Mayweather vs. Mitchell, Zab Judah, Corley and come to the conclusion that Mayweather is gonna go in. Instead he'll get a diferent Floyd, one who will try and outbox Pacquiao.

I do think that 1st round was a little misleading though. Even if Cotto never went aggressive, I think Pac wouldve started to own him. I dont think that 1st round was anything more than a 1st round. After that Pac was basically hooking him off that same jab the rest of the fight. Even in round 2 Cotto wasnt all that aggressive and Pac was clearly beating him. IDK though. Its all hard to call but I just feel that if Floyd is on his game then its going to be hard for Pac to even come close, let alone winning and I also dont see Floyd getting on that bike at all

[Pullcounter]

floyd's gameplan: run

pac's gameplan: flurry

[Obdeboondocks]

what i see as pac's strategy

1) Don't be afraid to flurry- Mayweather's shoulder roll is a great defensive position, but it is solely that, a defensive position impossible of any counter attack. Granted Mayweather gets his counterpunches in but they are usually in response to one or two punches thrown at him. The strong defensive position that he gains hinders money from responding to pacquiao's three to five punch combinations. However pac must force may into this shell by throwing in bunches. A good example would be Mayweather's fight with De la Hoya; although not damaging, Oscar's combinations against Mayweather's shell scored him points, enough for a split decision loss. My point on when he should flurry is specified on point 3.

2) dwyer70905, a betting expert that i respect brought up the important fact that Mayweather is not a southpaw switched orthodox fighter the way cotto and dlh was. Therefore, he was not going to have his power hand be inhibited by a lead punch (something pac has capitalized on all left handed orthodox fighters in the past). By not needing to reload so to speak on his left, mayweather can pick off pac's charging attack with his own left without having to sacrifice important power. mayweather's lead left hook as a result will be less powerful, but quicker than dlh or cotto's (hatton hitting the turnbuckle is a clear example of the quick, accurate left mayweather is capable of). With all that being said pac then needs to worry less about slipping and more about blocking. keep the hands up! although not too profiled for keeping his hands on the defensive, pac needs flurry in smaller bursts than before and keep the hands up at all the other times. if pac is going to slip may's left hook the way he did hatton or cotto, he'll be more in a position (head in a downward position and open) to get hit by mayweather's real money punch (the right). Pac has to time when the right is coming in by blocking all subsequent punches and slip after the right is delivered. This is a tricky left, a left that is used on the defensive more so than an offensive weapon. May can very will win this fight if pac keeps his hands down (like he usually does to throw punches). if pac keeps his hands up while he is flurrying, mayweather's defensive left won't be as annoying as it was to castillo or hatton.

3) Be smart and patient by pulling off a sugar ray-hagler flurry. I said before that pac needs to flurry but it is important that he does this less often than before and at the right time. May will catch pac's nuances and habits before the third if pac floors it to 120mph. But Pac has a high iq as well, and with roach by his side, it is possible that they can formulate a game plan before the fight and adjust it during the fight as well. In order to get the information they need, pac cannot flurry like he did before, he has to exhibit more patience. But lets be realistic, pac is a fighter-puncher first not a boxer. He won't do this forever. for the first three to four rounds, pac needs to be patient and if he gets hit while waiting so be it, he has the power to be able to steal rounds in the last minute like he did against cotto by kd's (ala rounds 3 and 4) or points (hence sugar ray-hagler flurry). If this attempt to steal rounds works, roach should be able to find the information they need to attack more often in the latter rounds.





This fight is really intriguing in the sense that it is a new type of challenge for pac. This fight isn't about size as it was with Oscar or strength as it was with hatton or toughness as it was with cotto. In this fight, mayweather might not cut pac like morales did, or get into a war like marquez did. But Mayweather won't need to, he just has to win. With all things considered, Mayweather is the favorite to win because his boxing gifts+intelligence are on paper more than enough to stop a punching machine in pac. Pac needs to be a smarter man, because if not mayweather certainly will be and will certainly pull of a ud.

[Obdeboondocks]

It dont matter if you are a die hard Floyd fan & Pac hater or vice versa. Set the game plan for "both" guys and be real about it. Lets not make no clown thread saying "run run run" or whatever. If you seriously mean that because you think he has to stay on his bike due to Pac's pressure then fine but dont just say it just to say it.

as you can see i enjoyed this thread. Considering NSB's "characteristics", it was the first real boxing talk i delved into in a long fu cking while.

[Eaner0919]

All true but I wouldn't count on that. It's hard to prepare yourself for Pacquiao's punches because of all the angles. None of us seen Mayweather defend against such an opponent. I swear that the thought of Mayweather allowing Pacquiao to get some rounds in early is very risky.

and at the same time Manny has never faced someone as masterful as Floyd

JMM is a great fighter and one of the best technicians to ever lace them up but this is a different animal in Floyd

Floyd is deadly accurate and impeccable in footwork. Mayweather's twitch reflexes are the amazing even after two years off.

Manny is still somewhat sloppy in pursuit and does rely a lot on fighters initiating the attack so he can counter with power as witnessed by both KDs of Cotto. Mayweather is content with single shotting from the outside, turning his opponent, then attacking when they are out of position to land anything of note. As much as we marvel at Manny's lead left, Mayweather's lead right is just as bad ass.

also of note it looked like Manny was fustrated by the movement Cotto gave and often asked Cotto to engage more. Mayweather isn't going to fall into that trap he will be content to outbox Manny from the outside.