By Chris Williams: If you listen to Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd
Mayweather Jr. is in deep, deep trouble against Manny Pacquiao in their
fight coming up next month.
De La Hoya thinks Mayweather could fall behind in the fight early and
then be put into a position where he’ll need to change his normal
fighting style by being the aggressor instead of the counter puncher
against Pacquiao.
De La Hoya thinks Mayweather isn’t comfortable being the aggressor in
his fights, and this could lead to him struggling to try and get back
into the fight.
Like George Foreman, De La Hoya believes that that first three rounds
of the fight are extremely crucial. If Pacquiao is able to win 2 to 3
of the first quarter of the fight, he’ll put Mayweather into a bind
where he’ll have to make some changes to his fighting style if he wants
to be able to rally to get the victory.
De La Hoya and Foreman are both in the same boat in believing that
the first three rounds are very important for both fighters, even though
Mayweather has already shown in the past that he has no problems
rallying from an early deficient. We saw that in his fights against De
La Hoya, Miguel Cotto and in first fight against Marcos Maidana.
“I feel Pacquiao has to win the first two or three rounds, because
it’ll make Mayweather have to come from behind and he’ll have to start
to pressure Pacquiao, to be the aggressor, and Mayweather does not like
to be the aggressor,” De La Hoya said via the thenational.ae. “So
if Pacquiao can start well the first two rounds – winning those rounds –
the fight can go in Pacquiao’s direction,” De La Hoya said.
First off, I don’t think Pacquiao is going to be able to win the
first two or three rounds. I don’t see that happening. He’s too short
and his reach is too limited. But even if Pacquiao did win the first
three rounds, I think Mayweather is going to come storming back and will
look to KO Pacquiao like Juan Manuel Marquez did. He’s going to want to
put Pacquiao out of the fight by tagging him with some hard shots by
backing him up, and we just don’t know how could have a head shot
Pacquiao can take at this point.
After the way Marquez knocked Pacquiao out in 2012, I wouldn’t be
surprised if Mayweather knocks him clean out with a right hand or a left
hook to the head. Mayweather has been adding punching strength with the
help of his strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, and he could be
a very different fighter than the one that fought Maidana twice.
“The one fighter to make it an exciting fight is going to be
Pacquiao. What he has to do is go in with a lot of combinations, a lot
of footwork, which he has,” De La Hoya said. “With Mayweather, we’re
going to see the same thing he does in every fight, which is box, win
the rounds one at a time. I don’t see Mayweather trying to knock out
Pacquiao, but I can see Pacquiao trying to knock out Mayweather. In this
sport one punch can change everything and I think I’m going to have to
give Pacquiao the advantage.”
Mayweather will definitely attempt to box Pacquiao, but if that
doesn’t work, he’s going to adapt and try another tactic. If that means
slugging, then that’s what he’ll do, and I wouldn’t be surprised if
Mayweather gets the better of Pacquiao in that department. What
Mayweather lacks in punching power, he’ll more than make up with his
timing and accuracy.
Pacquiao can jump around the ring all night long and tire himself,
but Mayweather is still going to be able to connect with a lot of shots
due to his timing. He’ll figure out Pacquiao’s movement quickly and then
time him to start nailing him with shots. At that point, Pacquiao can
continue to hop around the ring all he wants, it’s not going to help
him. He’ll need to try something different like storming Mayweather in
the same way Maidana was doing. I don’t think that’s a style that
Pacquiao is capable of imitating though even if he trained to imitate
it.