Manny Pacquiao Will Be Able to Penetrate Floyd Mayweather's Defense

Manny Pacquiao comes into his epic fight with Floyd Mayweather having to figure out how to break through the undefeated champion's seemingly impenetrable defense.

It's something that 47 fighters have tried to do, but it's something that none of them have done well enough to bring home a victory.

Mayweather may be trying to play head games with Pacquiao as the May 2 fight preparations reach the home stretch, but once the two men are in the ring, their skills and ability to execute will decide the outcome.

Mayweather's ability to defend and keep from getting hit with hard punches on a consistent basis may be his greatest asset. A look at his most recent fights with Marcos Maidana, Canelo Alvarez, Robert Guerrero and Miguel Cotto demonstrates his talent to keep from getting hit with his opponents' power shots.

Maidana was able to get closer and deliver more punches than Alvarez or Guerrero, but Mayweather took over the fight with his speed, defense and consistency in the ring.

Mayweather has the foot speed to get in an and out of the trouble zones quickly, but it's his hand speed, head movement and ability to diagnose what his opponent is going to do in the ring that has given him such superior defense.

Pacquiao has spent much of his preparation time studying Mayweather's defense, and while he respects Money's ability to make it difficult to land hard punches, he is in no way daunted by his opponent's strengths.

“We've actually been figuring out how we can penetrate the defensive blanket Floyd would throw at me since we opened camp in General Santos two or three weeks ago,” Pacquiao told Lyle Fitzsimmons of CBSSports.

“And I think we already have an idea of what offensive maneuvers we would utilize," Pacquiao said. "As I have been saying since we opened camp, we will be concentrating on finding the flaws in his defense and I think, too, we've discovered a lot.”

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Pacquiao may have one or two new wrinkles in his arsenal for Mayweather, but the 36-year-old fighter is not going to change the way he goes about his business. What Pacquiao has going for him is the speed of his punches and his ability to throw them in bunches without leaving himself open.

None of Mayweather's recent opponents has had anything close to the Pacquiao's speed and athleticism, and that's what will get the Filipino legend through if he is going to be successful in this fight against Mayweather.

Pacquiao is a natural left-hander, and his right jab and right hook are two of his best punches. Fighting a left-handed opponent is not going to be confusing to a brilliant boxer like Mayweather, but fighting one who is as quick and creative as Pacquiao is another story.

Pacquiao is a better and more talented fighter than Mayweather has seen in his career. An argument can be made that Shane Mosley is the best boxer that Money has met in the ring. While Mayweather got the best of Mosley in 2010, Pacquiao pitched a virtual shutout against Mosley and knocked him down in the third round when the two men met in 2011.

Pacquiao was more aggressive and threw a barrage of punches against Mosley. Mayweather also handled Mosley with relative ease, but he got hit hard by Mosley early in the fight and he appeared to be in trouble before he earned his victory.

The point Pacquiao can take from that fight is that Mayweather can be hit and hurt, and if that happens enough, he can also lose.

Mayweather has a perfect record, but he can be vulnerable against a busy and aggressive fighter. 

That's just what Pacquiao is, and if he can stay aggressive for 12 rounds, he should have an excellent chance to nail Mayweather with the first loss of his career.