Keith Thurman believes that Manny Pacquiao needs to go after Floyd Mayweather in the first three rounds of their mega-fight on May 2.
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Thurman believes that pressing forward and a high work-rate will be key to the Filipino’s chances of inflicting a first defeat on his American rival.
While ‘One Time’ hopes to get in the ring with both men at some stage in the near future, he will be amongst millions of fans watching the fight on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao will be expected to be on the front-foot in the fight, but Mayweather is a master at counter-punching with his solid defense keeping him away from trouble.
“If you watch any of his [Mayweather’s] fights, he is vulnerable in the first three rounds, very vulnerable. But he figures people out very quickly. Is he going to be able to do the same thing with Manny or is Manny going to make it a difficult night and it’s going to take him longer to adjust, and even if he does adjust will it be enough to take the rounds,” Thurman said, according to Boxing Scene.
Thurman added that Pacquiao needs to focus on volume of punches and continuously barrage Mayweather if he has a chance to win, but he also cited the fact that Mayweather will not be able to knock him out so that should allow him to continue to press.
The unbeaten American star has suffered with hand injuries over the course of his career and hasn’t knocked any of his opponents out since Victor Ortiz back in 2011, but even that was in contentious circumstances.
Mayweather has mastered the art of registering ‘scoring’ punches that catch the attention of the judges, but he doesn’t possess the power required to dent Pacquiao’s morale in moving forward and taking the fight to him. As a result, it may come down to whether or not he can handle the constant pressure and angles and pick his opponent off at will.
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