This week, the only press conference before the fight of the century was held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. The event was not open to the public and only 500 members of the media were allowed to attend.
Out of this group, only 70 were granted access to each fighter for one hour in the VIP room, backstage of the theatre.
By now you would have seen all the clips of the press conference or you might have streamed it live. It was an interesting event.
Bob Arum spent 10 minutes discussing World War II and Floyd Mayweather thanked everyone in existence while sounding like he was about to break-down in tears.
Manny spent half of his time on the podium thanking god while his strength and conditioning coach, ex-Australian power lifter and heavyweight contender Justin Fortune supported him from the side.
In truth, the televised press conference gave no insight into the boxers’ state of mind, training, or thoughts on the upcoming bout. The most informative part was the announcement that tickets to the event would cost $1,500 – $7,500.
Luckily, in the VIP room, The Roar was in attendance to see both fighters and their camps provide insight and start the mind games.
In front of the 70 select members, Mayweather declared he had only seen two Pacquiao fights in his life as he wasn’t a fan of boxing.
When questioned about his concern that Manny was a southpaw and ask if he would be using Marquez, a common opponent, in his training, Floyd responded:
“…no I’m not worried, I’ve fought eight southpaws and beaten eight… and I won’t be using Marquez because I beat Marquez…” hinting at Marquez’s KO win over Manny three years ago.
Mayweather said he is using 10 sparring partners; one of which is Zab Judah, a lighting fast southpaw that outgunned Mayweather in the early rounds when they fought nine years ago.
When team Pacquiao entered, Freddie Roach declared Floyd’s legs had aged and will be forced to stand and exchange more, to Manny’s favour.
Taking another dig, Freddie said they’re using six young, hungry, up and coming fighters “…there are no old washed up guys, Zab Judahs, just going through the motions to make some money”.
Both camps have started with clearly different approaches and ideas of how it will play out.
Manny said his game plan will be to win each round, one at a time. Alternatively, report’ out of Mayweather’s camp claim he has increased his intensity and dropped sparring partners with body shots.
Maybe we’ll see the return of Floyd’s right hand; maybe we’ll see the return of Manny’s killer instinct.
It’s all speculation right now, but it’s sure to be the fight of the century.
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