LAS VEGAS ? The Thai opponent whom Manny Pacquiao shocked to win his first world title thinks Floyd Mayweather Jr. will suffer the same fate as his against the Filipino icon.
Former boxer Chatchai Sasakul recalled entering his 1998 WBC flyweight title defense against Pacquiao oozing with confidence.
?I didn?t know him that time and I underestimated him,? Sasakul, through his interpreter Tiya, told a couple of Filipino scribes outside a Thai restaurant just a few steps from the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
Pacquiao broke his Los Angeles camp Monday (Tuesday in Manila) and headed to Las Vegas for his clash with Mayweather. Sasakul, for his part, is putting his money on his former conqueror.
During that fateful afternoon in Phuttamonthon, Thailand, Sasakul ? a seasoned boxer and defending champion ? was dominating Pacquiao ? then just a skinny, free-swinging flyweight ? for the entire fight. He was looking good against the stubborn challenger.
But things quickly turned around after Pacquiao pummeled Sasakul with a right hook and a left uppercut that forced him to the ropes, delivering the coup de grace in the form of a booming left straight ? Pacquiao?s signature punch. Sportshub ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
Sasakul was counted out, and a new champion emerged in Pacquiao. The Thai blamed the loss on overconfidence, something he says Mayweather is displaying right now.
?He should not be that confident,? said Sasakul, who now trains other boxers. ?I think Mayweather will lose to Pacquiao because Mayweather thinks he?s better.?
Sasakul then went on to recount Pacquiao?s punching power, something he claimed Mayweather doesn?t have.
?He [Pacquiao] was very strong, very forceful,? he said.
Sasakul added that there?s no way Mayweather can knock Pacquiao out in their showdown this week at the MGM Grand here.
?Mayweather?s not a strong puncher, so he?s not gonna be able to send Pacquiao down. But Pacquiao can ? and will ? take down Mayweather,? he ended.
