Prior to the upcoming unification bout against Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao scored mighty wins over Lucas Matthysse and Adrien Broner, and the consensus among boxing analysts is Pacman will again emerge the victor on July 20. He will dominate the loud and proud Thurman, and the American will not be the last.
After burning hours of training at the Wild Card Gym a week before facing Thurman at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Pacquiao spoke to media exploding with confidence. He declared he's ready to rumble, slug it out with Thurman anytime.
"We can fight now. It can be tomorrow or the day after," the Filipino world champion told The Philippine Star.
And as expected, Pacquiao is sticking to his own plan and is refusing to play the game that Thurman's camp has been waging. From day one, the American was consistent in saying he will defeat Pacquiao and send him to retirement.
Evidently, Team Pacquiao is going for the win, but Pacquiao himself would not divulge what's playing on his mind despite the fire in his eyes practically revealing what he wishes to accomplish. Will he win?
"We can't say. We cannot predict what could happen. Only God knows," Pacquiao offered humbly.
However, many analysts are convinced the odds favor a Pacquiao. One thing that's going against Thurman is it will be his first to fight a foe with Pacquiao's caliber. They see that the Filipino will dictate the tempo of the fight, come out aggressive and force Thurman's camp to hit the panic button.
According to ABS-CBN, Pacquiao's game will force Thurman to trade punches and when the latter does then the fight will play out as imagined by the Pacman.
"The moment he forces Thurman to stand up and trade, Pacquiao will negate Thurman's height and reach advantage because they will be toe to toe, within spitting distance of each other," the same report quoted analyst Ed Tolentino as saying.
In a close-quarter match, Thurman will be at the mercy of his foe as Tolentino warned that the American would be overpowered by "Pacquiao's speed and precision."
And speed as among Pacquiao's chief arsenal at age 40 seems bordering to anomalous, but that's how things are with the 8-division title holder. According to Justin Fortune, the champ's strength and conditioning coach, there is little or no sign at all that Pacquiao is slowing down anytime soon.
"Fighters do get old overnight. But Manny hasn't. He's always in shape. No signs whatsoever of that happening," Fortune told The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
He hinted that after the Thurman fight, more opponents would likely be lined up and Pacquiao intends to win.
"Manny will fight for as long as he wants to. He's the one who decides to stop," said the Team Pacquiao member.
