‘He won’t underestimate me the way he did Maidana
Manny Pacquiao believes that Floyd Mayweather won’t make the mistake of underestimating him the way the US fighter did when he faced the rugged Argentine puncher Marcos Maidana last year.
Mayweather encountered rough sailing when he met Maidana during their first fight in May but won handily in the rematch in September.
“Maybe, he (Mayweather) underestimated Maidana that’s why he had difficulties (handling him),” said Pacquiao after training for about an hour and a half yesterday at the MP Tower, a multi-level building that was once the site of the L&M Gym, the fighter’s old training headquarters in one of Manila’s narrowest and grittiest streets.
Pacquiao insists that Mayweather will treat him differently when they go at it on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“I know he’s not going to underestimate me,” added the 36-year-old Filipino eight-division champion, who plans to set up camp in Los Angeles next week.
Knowing that Mayweather will get into the ring in his career-best, Pacquiao worked out a sweat with the help of long-time training assistant Buboy Fernandez, who copied some of Mayweather’s moves during the mitts session.
Pacquiao is expected to show up for training once more today and will probably skip gym session tomorrow as his Kia team is scheduled to play fellow expansion squad Blackwater tomorrow at 5 p.m. the San Juan Arena.
If Pacquiao sets up camp at the Wild Card early next week, he will find conditioning coach Justin Fortune waiting as lead trainer Freddie Roach won’t be showing up for camp until the second week of March.
Roach is with Chinese legend Zou Shiming, who fights for the world flyweight crown on March 7 in Macau.