Freddie Roach Believes Manny Pacquiao Will Be First To Knockout Shane Mosley

In his 54 professional fights, Shane Mosley has never been knocked out by any one of his past opponents, a record few boxers have attained in their boxing career.

On May 7, Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said the Filipino boxing superstar will become the first boxer to knock out Shane Mosley.

How will Manny Pacquiao do it?

Roach believes the key to winning the bout is for Pacquiao to pummel Mosley’s 39-year-old body. Shots to the body will nullify Mosley’s speed and wear him down in the 12-round bout, said Roach.

“I want Manny to box him and break his body down,” he said. “Everyone has usually gone after Mosley’s chin but he has a great chin. I want Manny to [attack] the body and break that body down and take his legs away from him. We can stop him late in the fight with those body shots.

“We’ve been really concentrating on the body. That’s part of our game plan,” he added.

But the hall of fame coach is aware Mosley will give Manny a difficult time in the early rounds.

“That’s his chance,” he said. “Let’s face it. He’s not going to coast early and try to win in the late rounds that would be ridiculous. I think he’s going to start quick and make a statement right away when he’s fresh. And that’s what I would do and that’s what we expect. We’re ready for that.

Manny Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum is worried Shane Mosley will pull one over Pacquiao come fight night.

“I listen to my matchmakers on making this fight,” said Arum. “The most entertaining fight that we can make was Pacquiao vs. Mosley because of their style and this was the most marketable fight. Mosley has a great body of work and is known in the public.”

“Shane Mosley worries me,” added Arum.

For his part, Manny Pacquiao said he is ready for anything Mosley will come up with.

Asked whether he felt he could become the first person to send Mosley crashing to the canvas, Pacquiao said: "I don't know. I'm not going to predict the fight but its going to be a good fight."

"I have done a lot of things in this training camp. We have done our best in training so we just want to make sure that we can give a good fight to the people."

Mosley on the other hand says he is going to knock out Pacquiao though he could not tell what particular round it will happen.

"I think that I am the best finisher that he’s faced. I think that he’s faced other fighters and he’s proven that he can fight his way out of trouble sometimes. But I don’t think that he’s faced anybody who is as fast as me and who actually hits as hard as I do," stated Mosley.

"I think that I’m going to knock him out. I don’t know what round it’s going to be in. But it will come in the first round that I catch him squarely on the chin."

Pacquiao, who has a career record of 52-3-2 goes up against Shane Mosley on May 7 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.