Manny Pacquiao confident ahead of Floyd Mayweather bout: 'I hope he shows more aggression'
Appearing relaxed and confident, Manny Pacquiao held a workout for the media on 15 April ahead of his heavily anticipated fight against Floyd Mayweather.
The 2 May showdown in Las Vegas between the two biggest drawcards of their generation has been more than five years in the making and Pacquiao expressed his hope that the defence-minded Mayweather would show more aggression in the ring.
At his boxing club in Las Vegas, American Mayweather described Pacquiao as "a very, very reckless fighter" who left himself open to punches, and while the Filipino southpaw was happy to agree with that assessment, he also believes his training will leave him ready for the big showdown.
"I think we're the same training, but we're just applying and adding different exercises," said Pacquiao, when asked about how his workouts have changed and how he hopes they will provide him an edge against his rival.
Mayweather has a perfect record of 47-0 with 26 knockouts and Pacquiao added that he would love to see his opponent abandon his usually cautious boxing style early on in the fight.
Pacquiao's shrewd trainer, Freddie Roach, though, simply believes that an older Mayweather will eventually have to stop running and fight.
"Well, everyone gets older and slows down a little bit," said Roach, who has worked with 31 world champions in his Wild Card gym.
"But the thing is, you know, five years ago Floyd would be on his bike and he'd run all night and we would all fall asleep. I mean this is going to be a much better fight I feel because his legs aren't what they used to be and he has to take breaks and he does rest on the ropes at times and if he rests on the ropes with Manny Pacquiao he'll be in f*****g trouble."
While many boxing pundits regret that Mayweather, 38, and Pacquiao, 36, are in the twilight of their respective careers and have lost some of their skills in the ring, the Filipino feels the timing of the welterweight bout is perfect.
Pacquiao, who has a 57-5-2 record with 38 knockouts, is looking forward to an exciting fight.
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