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Op-Ed: Why Mayweather’s shoulder roll defense won’t work with Pacquiao

In his potential showdown with Filipino fighting star Manny Pacquiao which he has calendared for May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mayweather will likely use his father’s version of shoulder roll defense to prevent Pacquiao from landing on his target.

The shoulder roll defense is one of a boxer’s defensive moves that deflects an incoming punch by using the boxer’s shoulder to cushion the impact of the punch.

This defensive fighting style works best with fighters who are mobile or active in the ring because they are not likely to be hit compared to stationary fighters who do not rotate inside the ring.

To counter a boxer who uses the shoulder roll defense, the opponent must use his jabs repeatedly to inflict damage to the shoulder and weaken it until the opponent feels the pain that could eventually demobilize the arm in the later rounds.

Obviously Mayweather will be using the shoulder roll defense against Pacquiao but there is no guarantee that it will work with a southpaw like Pacquiao, who is also known for his powerful right hand punch.

Midway to his decade-old association with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, Pacquiao spent long hours developing and transforming his right hand—with supervision and guidance by Roach— like a power tool that will come handy to support his natural lethal left hand.

Normally, a southpaw fighter would find an orthodox fighter an easy target. But in the case of Mayweather, it may not work naturally because he moves constantly which makes it a bit difficult for a southpaw fighter to hit him.

While Mayweather had won fights against southpaw opponents in the past, he may find Pacquiao a different breed of southpaw fighter because he combines left and right hand power punches which will make it very difficult for Mayweather to put up his own defense using the shoulder roll defense.

Mayweather could be overwhelmed by Pacquiao’s rapid fire with left and right had power combinations that could make him vulnerable to a lethal left hand power shot by Pacquiao.

Timothy Bradley (L) defends against Manny Pacquiao during their WBO World Welterweight Championship ...

Timothy Bradley (L) defends against Manny Pacquiao during their WBO World Welterweight Championship title match in Las Vegas on April 12, 2014
Joe Klamar, AFP

Pacquiao must have viewed video clips of past Mayweather fights where he was victorious by using shoulder roll defense to avoid being hit and to enable him to throw precise and power counter punches. View video here.

Based on what he saw, Pacquiao may have concluded that Mayweather is easy to beat as he fired two tweets daring Mayweather to face him in the ring by signing the fight contract.

“I can easily beat @FloydMayweather, I believe that.” Pacquiao posted on his Twitter page. Later he said: “Everyone had me as a big underdog to @OscarDeLaHoya too. If @FloydMayweather fights me boxing will get an even bigger upset victory,” he added.

Pacquiao seems convinced that Mayweather’s known shoulder roll defense won’t matter as he is confident that he will defeat the unbeaten champ in a super fight that is yet to be signed and announced by Mayweather.

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