PHILIPPINE NEWS SERVICE — FLOYD Mayweather Sr. just won’t let counterpart Freddie Roach gets away with his antics.
Quick to the draw, Mayweather fired back at Roach and bragged that Ricky Hatton will take out Manny Pacquiao in just two rounds in their exciting International Boxing Organization (IBO) light-welterweight title duel on May 2 (May 3 in Manila) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mayweather’s pronouncement came after Roach insisted for the nth time that Hatton is not going to last three rounds against the Filipino boxing idol.
“He (Roach) better get ready to be disappointed then,” said the estranged father of retired unbeaten champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“Hatton is going to stop Pacquiao before 3. We’re going to put hands on him man. Trust me.”
By that, the veteran trainer readily let out on his plan to have Hatton jump the gun on Pacquiao behind a fast start.
Mayweather also stressed on going after what he believes is the weak point of Pacquiao’s ringmanship – the body.
“He’s been stopped to the body twice. A lot of people don’t know that, but one guy hit him in the body and he was crawling and could get up,” he said, obviously referring to Pacquiao’s first career loss against the late Rustico Torrecampo, who knocked the General Santos City with a single punch to the body on the way to a third round knockout win in February of 1996.
“Another guy hit him with a straight right hand to the body and he didn’t move at all,” Mayweather added, perhaps pointing to a similar third round knockout loss by `The Pacman’ to Thai Medgoen Singsurat and surrendered the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight crown in 1999.
That one setback by the 30-year old Filipino southpaw from General Santos City however, came after Pacquiao failed to make the 106-pound limit. The world’s top pound-for-pound king entered the bout weak and dehydrated after trying to meet the weight.
With a 48-3 record, 36 by knockouts, Pacquiao hasn’t loss in the ring for the past four years. His last defeat came at the hands of Eric Morales in 2005 when he lost a close unanimous decision.
Since then, Pacquiao has been on a roll, racking up nine straight wins, capped by his stunning eight round technical knockout of legendary Oscar De La Hoya in his last fight.
But Mayweather sees the streak coming to an end four weeks from now.
“Ricky is coming to hurt this guy. He’s not playing games,” Mayweather said.
Hatton, from Manchester, United Kingdom, has been stopped just once in his 46 pro fights (45-1, 32 KOs) by Floyd Jr., going down in 10 rounds of their WBC welterweight title fight in 2007.
The elder Mayweather has yet been tapped by Hatton as his personal trainer when he suffered the loss.
And no way will Pacquiao be able to duplicate that feat against the 30-year old Hitman, according to Hatton.
“Roach thinks that little Floyd did that to Hatton, Manny can too,” he said. “But he ain’t little Floyd.”