Floyd Mayweather Sr. inside of the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas (Photo: Chris Robinson – www.HustleBoss.com)
By Chris Robinson
During press stops in Los Angeles and New York last week, WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley and eight-division titlist Manny Pacquiao hosted the media ahead of their April 12 rematch on HBO pay per view.
Bradley always makes for a great interview and he wasted little time in stating his belief that Pacquiao has lost his killer instinct in the wake of his tactical points victory over Brandon Rios this past November.
During a recent swing through the Mayweather Boxing Club, trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. seemed to share Bradley’s sentiments that Pacquiao hasn’t fully bounced back from his knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez nearly one year prior to the Rios match.
“I can agree with that too,” Mayweather Sr. stated. “Anytime you get stretched like that, you’re out for five to seven, eight minutes. Man, you get knocked out like that, that’s a serious, cold knockout. It’s going to be hard for him to come back behind that.”
Pacquiao is well into his veteran years, having just turned 35 in December, but Mayweather Sr. feels that it’s not a matter of his body breaking down but more so the mental hurdles from the Marquez setback.
“You can get physically in shape, but I think mentally will be the problem,” Mayweather Sr. explained. “Mentally a lot of things that you would normally do, you cannot do. You can’t prepare yourself mentally to get good enough to beat this guy.”
Last month, when asked for a prediction on the fight, Mayweather Sr. leaned towards Pacquiao but he has since changed his stance.
“He’s not going to beat Bradley this time,” Mayweather Sr. added. “I think you’re going to see a totally different fight from what you seen before. I don’t think you’re going to see the same Pacquiao.”
And despite initially giving Pacquiao credit for his dominant victory over Rios, Mayweather Sr. knows how different Bradley’s style.
“He beat Rios,” Mayweather Sr. stated. “He won that but he aint fighting no Rios now. He’s fighting Bradley. That’s going to be a different fight.”
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Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com