Manny Pacquiao doesn’t believe his megafight with Floyd Mayweather is five years too late, and that now is the perfect time for them to meet.
Whether or not you’re inclined to agree with him, Manny Pacquiao doesn’t believe for a second that this fight with Mayweather is five years too late. He says he still feels like he’s the same fighter he was back then, and that he still has the same killer instinct from back then as well. Manny believes that all this time in the making has only increased interest in the fight.
“More people are interested and informed about this fight now than they would’ve been five years ago,” Pacquiao said at his media day.
“Style wise, I am the same fighter I was five years ago,” Pacquiao said. “My determination, inspiration and killer instinct is the exact same as it was five or six years ago.”
Naturally many fans will be skeptical of some of these claims. Manny looks to have bounced backed rather seamlessly from his extravagant KO loss to Marquez, but is he really the same guy from back then? I’d say not exactly but he’s not far off. We’ve seen him take it easy on recent opponents in fairly recent history, even when it was clear that he could go for a stoppage victory. That’s not the Pacquiao we’ve known circa the Ricky Hatton/Miguel Cotto fights.
The thing I wouldn’t doubt, however, is that he’s thoroughly geared up for this fight, which he readily admits would be the biggest victory of his career. He has all the reason in the world to be motivated for this fight and I am sure he’ll show up come fight night.
“I feel very excited for the fight,” Pacquiao said. “I have a lot of sparring partners that are similar to Floyd’s fighting style. We have done well. We know what to expect. I have watched tape on Floyd to make sure that our strategy and technique in training camp is correct.”
Watching tape on Floyd is something that Freddie Roach says Pacquiao has never done before on an opponent. This only confirms for Freddie that Pacquiao wants to win this fight more than any other before. Likewise, the feelings appear to be mutual on the Floyd Mayweather side. So with all things considered, this should make for the fight we’ve all hoped for.
