Mayweather cites Pacman’s power, flaws

Floyd Mayweather Sr., the master trainer, has some good things and bad things to say about Manny Pacquiao.

"Nobody should take the Pacman lightly. You can’t drop your hands when you fight a guy like Pacman," the prized boxing guru told Michael Marley of boxingconfidential.com recently.

"Pacman is a real puncher, a guy who can knock you out with just one shot. That is why they call him the Pacman because he packs a punch. That’s the only thing he can do but he does it very well," he added.

Mayweather Sr. has plenty of reasons to believe that Pacquiao is indeed a puncher. He’s has won 16 of his last 20 fights by stoppage, including the latest, an eight-round knockout of Jorge Solis.

And among his victims are some of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time, the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales. Pacquiao floored reigning champion Juan Manuel Marquez thrice in 2004 but had to settle for a draw.

Still, Mayweather Sr. said there are major flaws in Pacquiao’s arsenal.

"Pacman can’t box. Pacman got terrible defense. And he won’t get better with Joke Coach (Freddie) Roach because the Joke Coach can’t show him nothing," added the outspoken trainer.

Mayweather Sr. is the former trainer of Oscar dela Hoya but was pushed aside in favor of Roach. The Golden Boy is now training deep in Puerto Rico for a May 5 showdown with Mayweather Jr.

"I’m not a joke coach," Mayweather told Marley. "I am teacher above and beyond being a trainer. Pacman won’t learn and hasn’t learned nothing with Roach."

Mayweather Sr. said there’s nothing much to celebrate over Pacquiao’s nine-minute demolition of Morales last November in Las Vegas.

"Erik Morales? Come on, man, they threw a dead man in there with Pacman in that fight. Erik had so many tough fights, so many wars, so much mileage on him he was a dead man walking against Pacman," he said.

During the weigh-in for that fight, in that Morales needed a miracle just to make 130 lbs, Mayweather Sr. thought he saw an "anorexic" on stage, and that he couldn’t understand how the Mexican could beat Pacquiao who was "full of muscles."

Mayweather Sr. believes that his new student, the undefeated Joan Guzman, has what it takes to bring Pacquiao down.

"I think that Guzman can beat the Pacman down the line," said Mayweather Sr. of the cocky boxer from the Dominican Republic, who’s in the very short list of possible Pacquiao opponents by the end of the year.

"Guzman has faded in later rounds in some recent fights but that won’t happen no more with me. Guzman is a diamond, yes, but I am the diamond polisher," he said.