"In that fight, I've really got Mayweather. I think Mayweather, hands down, will take the fight. Obviously Manny's been in a lot of wars. I think five years ago, it would've been an exciting fight to watch. They were both at their peak. But since then, Manny Pacquiao's been knocked out. He's had two bad losses and he's had a lot of wars. It breaks down a fighter, having a lot of wars; back-to-back wars and tough fights and tough training camps. I think that's affected Manny," stated former world champion Amir Khan, who shared his thoughts on the long-awaited May 2 mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. According to Khan, who sparred several times with Pacquiao in the past, there are certain flaws and tendencies in the 8-division world champion that Mayweather will be able to exploit.
"He likes to tap, tap, tap his feet and then jump in with a combination. When Manny stops his feet, you know he's going to throw a punch. He'll stop moving and you know the combination is going to come. Otherwise, he won't move. I think Mayweather will be smart and take a big stride back and catch him with hooks and straight punches. But I think with this fight, he's going to come to Mayweather with a different plan. He'll think his hand speed and the work rate will win him the fight," Khan explained during a recent conversation with FightHype.com. "I think he'll get caught a lot in that fight. you know, Mayweather can catch you, but I think it could be a tough fight for Mayweather depending on how Mayweather comes. Mayweather has to really put on a lot of pressure, like he fought against Mosley. He was walking forward, defending and then fighting. Mayweather doesn't fight like that anymore with that pressure. Now he's more back to normal again."
Based on the success that he had with him in sparring, Khan is not confident that Pacquiao will be able to execute a game plan that Mayweather hasn't already diffused before. "The way I see it, Manny Pacquiao is going to come to Mayweather like Canelo did. He's going to rush at him and use his feet, foot work, and angles and stuff, but angles are only going to work on an opponent if he stands in front of you and Mayweather is not one of them fighters who stands in front of you. It's single shots that catch Manny as well. Combinations, he only gets caught with a shot in between, but when you throw single one-two's, you always catch Manny," Khan continued. "I mean, I was never hurt in sparring by him. He is strong. I mean, I've seen him spar with Shawn Porter and Shawn Porter used to have his way. Shawn Porter, you know, he's the same size as Mayweather. Manny doesn't seem as strong as he used to be. Manny, to me, doesn't seem like he hits as hard as he used to hit and his body is not like it used to be. Obviously he's getting older as well. With age, he's not going to be as affective and he's not going to be as explosive as he used to be. That's why I said five years ago, it would've been a different fight."
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