A much debated picture surfaced this week of Floyd’s rather muscular physique, which has produced wide speculation of sophisticated PED use by Floyd Mayweather. Floyd’ll tell you “Hey, Alex has me chopping down trees with an ax. I’m getting stronger- f*ck you.” Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Ironically enough, Floyd exercised his right to have Pacquiao randomly blood tested on Sunday- as Manny Pacquiao gladly obliged (even allowing a Filipino camera crew to film it).
As a trifecta; Ricky Hatton, Juan Manual Marquez and Floyd Mayweather are decided different fighters. Hatton and Marquez have very aggressive mentalities- Floyd does not. Whereas they would be given to strike, Mayweather is given to stealth (which coincidentally, rhymes with “health”).
Of the three, the question becomes, who would Floyd rather be in order to win? By making the addition of Alex Ariza and consulting Memo Heredia, Floyd seems to have hypocritically decided that “Money” will not be enough. He seems to understand that Hatton’s approach – whether a departure from his father’s gameplan or not – will not be one he can use against Pacquiao despite his much better skillset than Hatton’s.
But to be Juan Manuel on the evening of May 2, Floyd will have to become someone he’s never been in 47 fights. That is, someone who is willing to go toe-to-toe with Manny Pacquiao throughout, and fight his fire… with fire.
T@z
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RICKY “MONEY” MARQUEZ
“Look, if Marquez knocked Pacquiao out like that in the sixth, then I guarantee I?ll have him out by the fifth because I beat Marquez like a slave.”
Floyd Mayweather, aka “RMM”
Amid reports that Floyd has been stopping sparring partners and told that Mayweather is planning a very aggressive fight strategy on May 2, longtime trainer Buboy Fernandez and Manny Pacquiao erupted in laughter. Saying things like “I hope he’s man enough to fight me toe-to-toe”, the Filipino icon offered a look of enthusiastic disdain and simultaneuos supreme confidence at the thought of Mayweather deciding to engage him in a slugfest.
Pacquiao then struck the heavy bag as if it were Mayweather he was massacring.
A little more than a week into his official training camp for May 2, reports out of the Wild Card Gym is that a very angry version of Manny Pacquiao awaits Floyd Mayweather. Roach, never known to speak his mind, told the media that Manny “doesn’t like this guy at all” and that he has never seen him have so much open hostility for anyone.
The last time he could remember Pacquiao so irritated by someone before a fight, was with Floyd Sr., who trained Ricky Hatton for their encounter, also on a May 2nd in 2009. Now, he gets them both, and would love nothing more than to have Floyd challenge him in the same manor as did Hatton.
It was a strategy which proved to be fatal for Hatton, and this is not Floyd’s M.O. at all. He learned in his own fight against Hatton that overt aggression is not the answer, and overcame the persistent Brit with patience and timing. These are two keys Mayweather will again rely on against Pacquiao, but he knows he’s dealing with something far more dynamic than Hatton.
The Marquez Factor
Around the time that Pacquiao defeated Juan Manual Marquez in March 2008 rematch, Mayweather had not long before decided to retire after stopping Ricky Hatton in that Dec. 2007 war. It was a grueling affair, and a fight far more difficult than most imagine for Floyd, despite a spectacular stoppage win.
Immediately after the rematch with Marquez, Pacquiao began working with the aforementioned strength coach Alex Ariza. someone Floyd (of course) now employs and has credited for much of Pacquiao’s KO success- including his massive destruction of Hatton.
But this is misleading and a little ironic.
For starters, the notion that Pacquiao hasn’t been the same and far less powerful without Ariza is just ridiculous. In fact, it can be argued he’s better. Since the Hatton fight, Ariza was in the corner for 6 fights after the Cotto stoppage — 5 of which went the distance, and then the Marquez IV KO defeat. Had Kenny Bayless decided to be generous, it is conceivable that Cotto could’ve gone the distance, and we all know the Margarito fight could’ve been stopped.
In the 3 fights post Ariza, Pacquiao won arguably all 12 rounds in beating Brandon Rios like a pinata – a fight many experts picked him to lose. He comprehensively defeated an elite welterweight in Bradley and never stopped assaulting Algieri.
What we do know, is that there was mounting tension in every training camp with Ariza present and that Pacquiao grew weary of his methods and personality.
Ariza reportedly was friendly was the notorious Memo Heredia during Pacquiao’s camp for Marquez IV (his last), and it is speculated that he may have been instrumental in helping Marquez prepare for Manny. Perhaps this is why we shouldn’t be surprised to see photographs of these two together and in concert with Mayweather.
But advisor Michael Koncz never liked or trusted Ariza and neither did Freddie Roach. In short he had to go, something he also had to do with Robert Garcia, who didn’t want him anywhere near his fighters.
Sometimes the adage “If it aint broke- don’t fix it” applies, and the addition of Ariza might prove disastrous for Mayweather. What Floyd is telling the world, is that whatever worked for him in 47 fights, will not be enough this time. He’s telling Freddie Roach that his uncle and/or his father, all of a sudden won’t be enough for Pacquiao, as he felt compelled to reach for the services of a man he’d accused of corrupting Pacquiao’s system.
It is a sign that betrays confidence, integrity and self-belief.
Pacquiao’s response after firing Ariza, was to simply go back to Justin Fortune, who was with him prior to Marquez II and returned 5 years wiser for the Rios bout. Who helped prepare Rios? Alex Ariza. I don’t know about Ariza, but “Fortune favors the brave”.
LOSERS NEVER FORGET.
Seeing them together on stage in front of the world made a few things run through my mind. I thought of a qoute from Lucas Jonkman. He said: “Fight your fears and you’ll be in battle forever. Face your fears and you’ll be free forever”. It kept going through my mind over and over again..
Floyd wore the body language of a fighter afraid to lose – and he’s always fought that way, which is why he’s always won. Pacquiao wore the body language of a fighter not afraid to win- and he’s always fought that way, which is why he’s sometimes lost.
Floyd later appeared on ESPN and told us “I have to be smart. I try to take away whatever a fighter does best”. He also said, in a very deliberate way, that “once you lose, you never forget that”. This is very cunning of Floyd, but its unlikely to work. The psychological ploy aimed at Pacquiao is designed to get him to pause in the face of Mayweather, which would give him room to operate.
If a fighter doubts himself he’ll fight with doubt, something Floyd wants to convince Manny that he should do.
But Pacquiao, who comes from 3rd world war (unlike anything we’ve seen in the U.S.) and has survived very real warlords, is a seasoned war combat veteran and will not be apprehensive at all in furiously attacking Mayweather.
I believe Floyd was talking about himself, and a loss waaaaaaaaay back in 1996 which resulted in an Olympic Bronze medal, at the hands of a very busy and aggressive southpaw. Of all the things he’ll need to take away from Pacquiao, none will be greater than his will – which will be the size of the Philippines.
Despite his tough talk, Floyd will fight not to lose.
Pacquiao told the same network prior to the press conference that he was “more worried about De la hoya and Cotto than Mayweather”. That Floyd was “scared of him” and that “this is boxing, and its about punches”.
He’ll fight to win.
