Pacquaio has many strategies to beat Mayweather, says Roach

CHIEF trainer, Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao have made no secret of their plan for May 2 – they want to overwhelm Floyd Mayweather Jr. with punches and keep him off-balance throughout the 12-round welterweight encounter.

“You can beat Floyd Mayweather if you outwork him and never give him a chance to do the things he does best,” Roach said in a recent interview, as quoted by Boxing Scene.

“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,” he added.

Mayweather is unimpressed with this strategy, saying: “I think everybody’s game plan is to come forward and throw a lot of punches.

“It hasn’t worked for 19 years — 47 fights, it hasn’t worked,” he warned.

Pacquiao made it clear, however, that they will have more than one strategy come fight night.

“What we’re doing in training, we’re very happy because we’re not focusing on one strategy or one technique, but more than two or three, more than two or three strategies,” Pacquiao told reporters on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

“Either way, if he wants to fight me, that’s good for me. If he’s running, running, moving around the ring, we are prepared for that,” he added.

Roach is confident that Pacquiao will be physically able to carry out any strategy that they may need to employ against Mayweather on May 2.

“We do have better speed, and I feel we have better power,” Roach said, and again reaffirmed his belief that Mayweather’s legs have begun to betray him.

“He can’t move for 12 rounds like he used to, and the thing is, we will catch him somewhere along the way,” he explained. “If he wants to rest on the ropes, we’ll take advantage of it.”

“And again, we’re ready to go 12 hard rounds. That’s what we trained for.”
Pacquiao has been the picture of confidence, even telling fans to “relax” during a rally at the Mandalay Bay.

“Maybe the people are nervous, but I feel excited,” said the Filipino champion.

“This is it. I have to prove something.”

“Every time I’m an underdog, I like it, because my killer instinct, my focus is there. This is what I want,” Pacquiao also said.