On May 2nd, a young Floyd Mayweather, Jr, 38, fought an old Manny Pacquiao, 36. That’s because Manny showed none of the dazzling footwork he’s possessed in the past, while Floyd displayed incredible agility and movement in the ring. Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Here are five strategies Mayweather used to defeat Pacquiao.
1. Mayweather came out attacking early
From the opening bell, Floyd threw several big punches to get Pacquiao’s attention. He did the same to Marcos Maidana and Canelo Alvarez who are both heavy punchers.
Manny’s team, including Freddie Roach and Buboy Fernandez, should have anticipated this gameplan but it seems the Pinoy idol was caught off-guard when Mayweather came out swinging in the early rounds. Manny should have expected an aggressive Mayweather in the early rounds: It was his golden opportunity to trade fireworks with a defensive opponent.
The way you control an aggressive opponent (Manny) is to become aggressive yourself, at least initially. You plant the seeds of doubt in your enemy that you may knock him out if he marches forward. This reflects poorly on Pacquiao’s trainers, who should have picked up clues from Floyd’s recent fights with big punchers.
It seemed Manny was a one-trick-pony and that made him very predictable to his opponent. Pacquiao rose up in boxing because of his brilliant unpredictability, but we saw none of that on May 2nd.
What we saw was a predictable gameplan. A pattern that Floyd easily dissected.
2. Floyd mimicked Marquez to remind Pacquiao of his 2012 KO
In the early rounds, Manny gave too much respect to Floyd’s punching power. And given that Mayweather is a brilliant counter-puncher, it seems the Filipino legend was very hesitant to get knocked out similar to what happened in 2012 against Juan Manuel Marquez.
Make no mistake: This was by design. Floyd wanted to remind Manny of that 2012 KO by moving and punching the same way as Marquez did, at least in the early rounds. That triggered Pacquiao’s reaction of being more cautious and too respectful of Floyd’s punches.
Manny should have disrespected Floyd by attacking as if Mayweather couldn’t hurt him. That’s what Roberto Duran did against Sugar Ray Leonard, and it worked.
3. Mayweather created space and distance
Floyd, who has longer arms, has a different punching range than Pacquiao. He kept Manny at a distance in which Floyd could still threaten with long jabs, but at a space in which Manny could not retaliate.
This was expected. But it was very disappointing that Freddie Roach and Buboy Fernandez did not create the right adjustments to this strategy. Indeed, it seemed as if Pacquiao had no Plan B or Plan C.
4. Floyd weakened Pacquiao through elbows and dirty clenches
It’s as if Team Pacquiao simply hoped that Mayweather would exchange near the ropes and corner and somehow that would guarantee victory. Wrong.
Floyd’s better than that, and he correctly moved away (created space) from Manny or clenched/tied up when the Pinoy icon got too close. When Floyd did clench Pacquiao, and he did so many times, he pushed Manny’s head down with his elbows.
It’s a dirty but effective trick. Bernard Hopkins does this move all the time. It weakens your opponent and saps his energy when you use your elbows and push his head down. It changes the pace of the fight.
Mayweather’s elbows and dirty clenches clearly bothered Pacquiao and probably weakened him for a few precious seconds. It forced Manny to constantly reset his attack, and prevented him from throwing his deadly combinations.
Again, it reflects poorly on Roach and Fernandez for not training Pacquiao to counter this dirty tactic.
5. Mayweather frequently changed his rhythm and attacks
Floyd made brilliant adjustments in the second half of the fight. If you watch closely, Mayweather altered his movements to prevent giving Manny a consistent look. That’s what you’re supposed to do.
Mayweather was more unpredictable than Pacman. 1Early on, Floyd attacked Manny to warn the latter of potential devastating blows and to dictate the tempo. 2When it was Pacquiao’s turn to retaliate, Mayweather was nowhere to be found. He simply ran away. 3When Floyd saw that Manny got frustrated, he stayed in the pocket but from a safe distance–scoring Olympic-style points by pot shotting and jabbing. 4When Manny shortened the distance, Floyd countered with left hooks. 5In the later rounds, Mayweather again stayed in the pocket to score more points. His punching flurries in the middle of the ring gave the optical illusion that he was the aggressor. No, Floyd’s attacks were limited and calculating. Pacquiao should have disrespected his power just as Duran disrespected Leonard in their classic bout.
Manny’s lack of footwork and movement cost him dearly in the superfight. He’s clearly not the same boxer (i.e., the one who faced Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton). The 36-year-old Pacquiao lacks the explosiveness of his younger version.
But the glaring ineptitude came in the lack of a Plan B when Floyd made his adjustments. Roach and his trainers did not establish alternative strategies that would have given their Pinoy employer a much better chance at defeating Floyd Mayweather.
They should have known that the one-trick-pony attack would fail against a sophisticated enemy.
In the Art of War, Sun Tzu famously wrote: “If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.”
