Manny Pacquiao Must Approach Floyd Mayweather Megafight as If It's His Last

Manny Pacquiao enters Saturday's megafight against Floyd Mayweather as the underdog, according to Odds Shark, and in order to beat the odds, he'll have to approach the bout as if he'll never fight again.

The fight pits the undefeated pound-for-pound king Mayweather against Pac-Man, whose career appeared to be over when he hit the canvas in his fourth bout with Juan Manuel Marquez.

He looked tentative in his return against Brandon Rios, before steadily regaining his old form in wins against Timothy Bradley and Chris Algieri. The latter suffered numerous knockdowns in their 2014 bout, including this famous moment:

Algieri finished the fight, to his credit, but it looked as if Pacquiao's power had returned. With the superfight against Mayweather now just days away, that power is being looked at as Pacquiao's best chance of beating his rival, who has never been dropped before.

The numbers tell a different story, however, per ESPN's Arash Markazi:

Pacquiao hasn't been a knockout master for years, and at the age of 36, it's doubtful that will change. All it takes is one punch, of course, but Pac-Man shouldn't enter this fight looking for a stoppage. He needs to use his biggest strengths, which are his hand speed and tenacity, and fight like there's no tomorrow.

As explained by Bob Canobbio of CompuBox, 38-year-old Floyd Mayweather is no longer the defensive mastermind he once was. He's still a feared defensive fighter, but he can be hit:

Money has never been a volume puncher, relying on his accuracy and defensive prowess to simply out-box his opponents. His shoulder-roll technique is legendary, as is his head movement. Compared to Pacquiao, he almost seems reluctant to throw punches, per ESPN:

On top of that, his ability to slip in and out of tricky situations has taken a hit in recent years:

All those numbers point to one thing: Where once Mayweather was nearly impossible to hit and needed to do little in order to win fights, things have changed. And come Saturday, Money's approach to boxing may actually work in Pac-Man's favour.

Pacquiao has the hand speed to connect with his combinations, and he frequently launches flurries of seven or eight punches, of which at least two or three should find their mark.

He fights at full throttle, is always moving forward and overwhelms opponents. That pace will be key against Mayweather, who likes to feel out his opponents in the early rounds before taking over fights through the middle of the bout:

Pacquiao loves to come out swinging, and that approach should lead to him winning the early rounds. But going into the second half of the fight, he'll learn what pundits mean when they talk about Mayweather's ability to adapt.

As shared by MailOnline Sport, Pacquiao is supremely confident going into the bout, even going as far as saying he expects to win every single round:

Obviously, that's unlikely to happen, but he needs to fight with that mindset. He needs to trust his stamina, continue launching those combinations and never drop his rate of punching, even when Mayweather begins to counter and do what he does best in the middle rounds.

Pac-Man's tactics for Saturday's fight have to be simple: Throw early and often, and don't even think about changing your approach. Looking for that big knockout shot is always tempting, but his best chance at victory will be on the cards, by outworking Mayweather and translating his hand speed and sheer volume of punches into points.

Ultimately, he'll have to leave it all out on the canvas, and fight as if he'll never fight again. One last hurrah, against his biggest rival. If he does that, he'll give himself the best chance of shocking the world in the biggest fight we've seen in years.

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