It appears that Mayweather’s primary requirement for the job is for the applicant to be a southpaw or left-handed fighter. Never mind the power and speed that the applicant possesses as long as he is a lefty.That is the impression that fans have when he hired Zab Judah and DeMarcus Corley as his new spar mates.
Judah and Corley are southpaw fighters that Mayweather fought many years ago. These two guys gave Mayweather a hard time during their fight. Both fighters have lost to Mayweather via a unanimous decision.
While Judah and Corley are known southpaw fighters, they could not mimic Pacquiao because they don’t have the foot and hand speed of Pacquiao.
Mayweather needs a left-handed sparring partner who has the power and speed of Pacquiao. Otherwise, he would just be wasting his time with southpaw spar mates who may have the power of a lefty but do not possess the speed that Pacquiao is expected to show on May 2.
It would be very difficult for Mayweather to address Pacquiao’s hand and foot speed if he would not spar with someone who can approximate Pacquiao’s speed.
Mayweather has to experiment with a southpaw fighter who fights like Pacquiao in order to confront and test his mobility in the ring.
One of the southpaw boxers who has the speed and power of Pacquiao is a veteran Thai flyweight champion who has 97 pro fights to his credit. Although he is smaller and shorter than Mayweather, he moves and fights like Pacquiao.
His name is Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (90-5-2, 47 KOs). He is a former WBC flyweight champion and two-time The Ring flyweight champion.
Being a flyweight fighter, Wonjongkam is too small for Mayweather, who stands 5’8″ with a reach of 72 ” but the Thai southpaw can mimic Pacquiao if he is asked to do so.
At the height of his career, Wonjongkam fought like Pacquiao as seen on this video against Alex Baba in 2001. During his fight against Malcolm Tunacao of the Philippines 10 years later, Wonjongkam still fights like Pacquiao though he was a bit slower.
Judah and Corley could stay as Mayweather spar mates but for him to find the right approach to deal with Pacquiao’s hand and foot speed, he needs to take Wonjongkam as his other spar mate for the duration of his training.
