What a difference a day makes.
Whereas Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s open workout broadcast began with two-plus hours of anonymous people milling about a cavernous Las Vegas gym, Manny Pacquiao’s choreographed Wednesday event opened with the protagonist already in the ring with taped hands and apparently ready for action.
The Filipino is occupying center stage at trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles, where Roach is expected to put him through non-threatening paces similar to what Mayweather ultimately displayed upon arriving for his Tuesday night show.
The open date is in contrast to the locked-down approach Roach has taken for the majority of training camp since the fight was officially announced with a March 11 press conference.
“It’s very much to keep Manny focused. I like when he performs for me, not the crowd,” Roach said.
“He will perform for them, that’s the nature of the beast. I really want him to concentrate. It’s a big fight for both of us and this might be our toughest fight since Cotto.”
And in spite of the consistent chatter since the kick-off, Roach conceded a big test is at hand.
“We have to fight the perfect fight,” he said. “(Mayweather) is a very smart fighter. He’s definitely very, very hard to hit. But I think that his legs are giving out on him. I really believe in my fighter. I believe we can outpoint this guy and if the knockout comes it comes, but we really believe we can go in there and win one round at a time.”
Manny Pacquiao made it a point to show up to his media day early. (Getty Images)
Promoter Bob Arum, who worked with Mayweather for several years and now works with Pacquiao, said the low-key nature of the banter between the two fighters is because of its sheer gravity.
“Both fighters respect each other and Floyd is aware of how big this fight is,” he said. “This event doesn’t need that. Floyd is generally a nice guy. This is the real Floyd Mayweather that you see now. The loudmouth guy shooting his mouth off, that was I think for show.”
Mayweather is labeled by many as Pacquiao’s toughest career task, largely because of a counter-punching style that’s similar to Juan Manuel Marquez ? who went 0-2-1 in three fights with Pacquiao before stopping him with a single right hand in the sixth round of their 2012 event.
Roach, however, suggests the stunning loss will help come May 2 in Las Vegas.
“It’s going to help us a lot. He knows he made a mistake, he paid for it,” Roach said.
“People do get knocked out. If you think you can’t get knocked out in this sport, you picked the wrong one. But he won’t make the mistake again. We did learn something and we do learn more off losses than win. We have hand speed and foot speed, and I don’t think Mayweather can handle that. I can’t wait for this fight to start.”
