Mike Tyson says Mayweather’s conservative style may not cut it against Pacquiao

Unbeaten Floyd Mayweather's usual conservative style might not be enough to hold off Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao, former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson has warned.

Former champion Mike Tyson says Floyd Mayweather may want to consider a different approach to fighting Manny Pacquiao and stay away from his usual conservative style. Al Bello / Getty Images

Unbeaten Floyd Mayweather's usual conservative style might not be enough to hold off Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao, former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson has warned.

Tyson is just the latest big name to weigh in with an opinion on how the long-awaited showdown between the two pound-for-pound greats might go when they step into the ring in Las Vegas on May 2.

“He has to fight,” Tyson said this week of Mayweather, in a video posted on YouTube.

“If he’s not going to score, he is going to lose the round. Also, if he is laid back, he is going to lose the round.”

Tyson says the fighters who have troubled Pacquiao have been prolific punchers.

“Floyd doesn’t throw nowhere near 100 punches a round,” he said. “He’s more, you know, scientific about it. He really plots a lot. And he sits around and he poses. And this guy is all over – fading, moving,” Tsyon said, referring to Pacquiao.

“I just don’t think Mayweather is going to be able to play that plotting, skill ... Floyd’s got to fight the first couple of rounds.”

Tyson isn’t the only former heavyweight world champion who has his eye on Pacquiao-Mayweather.

Evander Holyfield, speaking at a sponsors’ event in New York on Tuesday, said he plans to be at the welterweight unification bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“I don’t know who’s going to win, that’s the reason I’m going to see it,” the four-time heavyweight champion told Newsday.

“If I had to pay, I would pay to see that fight, because that’s how great that fight will be.”

Holyfield said the differing styles of Mayweather and Pacquiao make the fight hard to handicap.

“Pacquiao, the only way he can win is if he corners him off,” Holyfield said.

“Can he corner him off? If he corners him off, I think he will win ... I don’t think he can. But that’s what makes the fight so interesting.”

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