Mayweather beats up ex-champ in sparring

MANILA, Philippines – If you think Floyd Mayweather Jr. is having trouble fighting left-handed opponents, think again.

Jeff Mayweather, Floyd’s uncle, told Mlive.com that the undefeated American looked explosive in sparring against former world champion Zab Judah, the same slick southpaw he had trouble with before.

“[Floyd] Just beat the [expletive] out of him [Judah]," Jeff Mayweather told Mlive.com’s David Mayo, as Floyd Jr. is in the thick of training for his showdown with Manny Pacquiao.

"He beat Judah so bad, Judah was scared to let his hands go," he added.

Mayweather and Judah clashed in a title fight in 2006, with the latter giving the former a hard time for the first six rounds due to his speed and southpaw stance. But Mayweather gathered himself and dominated Judah for the rest of the bout to earn a unanimous decision.

The Las Vegas-based Mayweather isn’t known to have fought many southpaws in his career, and many boxing observers believe Pacquiao will again give him the same trouble he had against Judah.

But with the way things are going right now, Mayweather is proving that he can handle fast southpaws.

"Everybody was just hyped because they thought Judah was going to be something different, but Judah was worse than the other guys," Jeff Mayweather continued.

"It seemed like Floyd had something personal against him. He beat the [expletive] out of him. So then he quit, he let Judah off the hook, because Judah's got a fight coming up and he messed his eye up,” Floyd’s uncle said.

Mayweather’s other sparmates include DeMarcus Corley, another former opponent who’s a southpaw, and other young lefties. All of them, according to Jeff Mayweather, are getting dominated by Floyd.

"Floyd, he's on a different level right now. It may be just his mind, and all the (issues) he's been dealing with Manny over the years. Obviously, he's taken that in some kind of way, and I mean, he's punishing these guys," Jeff explained.

"The kids, early in camp, they don't care that he's Floyd Mayweather. They want to prove something. They've proved something, all right. They're getting destroyed. He's annihilating everybody. He's a beast. This isn't the same old Floyd."

Still, Judah and the rest of Mayweather's sparring partners are no Pacquiao, which makes their May 2 super fight an intriguing one. – Dino Maragay