The illustrious duo will settle a long-standing score when they get in the ring on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but there have been some lingering concerns that both men are past their very best coming into the fight. Pacman doesn’t think that’s the case, though.
“It'll be as good of a fight as it would've been five years ago," Pacquiao said, according to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. "The same. Both of us are still at the top.” As noted in Pugmire’s piece, the 36-year-old will undergo preparations for this bout at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, a venue where he first linked up with trainer Freddie Roach 14 years ago. Its location, which the man from the Philippines admitted stirred fond memories of younger days, is something that could help him in a fight he enters as the underdog:
“Back then, I thought, 'I just want to have a good fight, to fight for a championship.' I thought of being hungry, excited to focus on training.
It's a good thing to be an underdog. It helps me a lot. You're more focused on training. I feel like I'm at the start again.”
Pacquiao’s training hasn’t been limited to the iconic Hollywood venue, however. As noted by Oliver Todd of the MailOnline, the fighter is currently in the midst of “road work out training” and treated some passers-by to a display of nifty shadow-boxing. In shape like that at this relatively early stage of his training camp, it’s little surprise that Pacquiao is confident of victory and has claimed he is “100 %” sure of triumphing once he gets in the ring with the undefeated Mayweather, per Pugmire’s piece.
The fight may well have come a little too late for it to be a peak spectacle, but that could be a good thing for Pacquiao. Mayweather was immaculate in his defensive diligence when the pair initially scheduled a bout back in 2008, but in recent encounters—especially in the two recent fights against Marcos Maidana—a few small gaps have started to open up in Money’s armoury.
While the Argentine wasn’t subtle enough to exploit those weaknesses, Pacquiao definitely is. In his previous bout against Chris Algieri (although the American wasn’t quite a top-class opponent), Pacquiao’s patented ferocity, accuracy and intensity were ominously prevalent. Mayweather remains a defensive master, but it’ll be intriguing to see whether he can combat that level of dynamism.