Mayweather' and Pacquiao
Former African light heavyweight champion, Joe Lasisi, has tipped the undefeated, five-division world champion, Floyd Mayweather, to beat eight-division world champion, Manny Pacquiao in the ‘fight of the century,’ billed to hold on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Lasisi, who retired from boxing as an undefeated Nigerian champion, told our correspondent on Thursday that he had met both boxers, gauged their individual capacity, and believes that Mayweather will carry the day.
He said, “I happen to know Floyd Mayweather. We trained together in Las Vegas. I know his ability. I believe that Mayweather will beat Pacquiao because I know both of them. I’ve watched both of them fight in Las Vegas.
“Both of them have endurance but Pacquiao might have a chance if he is able to rush Mayweather. This is because Mayweather will always watch to see what you can do before he reacts.”
The former West Africa Boxing Union champion lamented the fact that Nigeria could no longer produce boxers who can compete at the world stage with the likes of Mayweather and Pacquiao.
Lasisi blamed it on the lack of structure for ensuring proper grooming of amateur boxers into strong professional boxers and world champions.
He said, “Our problem in Nigeria is that we are not patient and we don’t plan and as a result of not planning, there is no Nigerian boxer that can get to the level where Mayweather and Pacquiao are in the near future. We don’t have organised amateur boxing in Nigeria and that is not helping us. We need to start producing boxers from the grassroots.”
Lasisi said some Nigerian boxers of his generation were able to get to the world stage because they had passion for the sport and did not focus on money.
“Most Nigerians in sports now are there for money; for what they can grab. In our day, we were passionate,” he said.
Lasisi said if he is given the opportunity, he can train Nigerian boxers who can beat the records of Mayweather and Pacquiao in the future.
American Mayweather, nicknamed ‘Money’, is undefeated as a professional and will step into the ring on Saturday (3am on Sunday, Nigerian time) as the favourite in his bid to improve on a perfect 47-0 record against the 36-year-old Pacquiao, winner of world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions.
Mayweather puts his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association welterweight belts on the line against Pacquiao, the World Boxing Organisation champ who boasts a record of 57-5-2.
No comments:
Post a Comment