MUHAMMAD Ali, regarded as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time, supports eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao over undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their May 2 clash at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Ali’s daughter Rasheda Ali, who is very close to her dad, told TMZ: “My dad is Team Pacquiao all the way.” She said in a story on boxingscene.com her dad “really likes Manny and is a big fan of his. He knows Manny as a great fighter, but it’s more about what he does outside the ring. He is such a charitable person.” Rasheda said Ali and Pacquiao have been friends for years and recalled that Manny attended her father’s 70th birthday party in 2012. She told TMZ that her father respects Mayweather as a fighter, but says Floyd and Ali are two very different people. “My dad stood for things... Mayweather, I don’t think there’s a comparison,” she said. Because of his illness, Ali won’t be able to watch the fight live at the venue but his daughter said “he won’t miss it for the world. There’s no question he’s going to order it. It takes my dad way back to when he was fighting.” Ali is best remembered for the famed “Thrilla in Manila” against Joe Frazier in what is regarded as the greatest heavyweight championship of all time, held at the Aranerta Coliseum on Oct. 1, 1975. Ali won by a 14th-round TKO when his renowned trainer, the late Eddie Futch, told referee Sonny Padilla to call a halt because one eye of Frazier was closed shut and he couldn’t see the punches coming. Meanwhile, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum revealed that Mayweather Jr. isn’t as impressive in training as his handlers and a couple of sparring partners claim. In a conversation with the Standard/boxingmirror.com, Arum, who once handled the career of Mayweather said: “The reports we are getting is that Floyd is not looking great.” He, however, pointed out that there is still plenty of time before his showdown with Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 2. While a very short video of Mayweather showed him pounding an unidentified southpaw sparring partner, while another identified as 27-year-old Don Moore claimed Floyd hits really hard, Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach believes he has faster, more talented young sparring partners compared to those of the American. In fact, Moore, who has a record of 17-0 with 11 knockouts, is a lightweight, who according to boxrec.com, has fought only once in 2012 and once more in 2013 against mediocre opponents. He scored a four-round unanimous decision over Alfredo Guarneros, who had a record of 5 wins against 9 losses, with 4 knockouts on Nov. 3, 2012 and won by a first-round TKO over Reymundo Hernandez, whose record was 6 wins as against 14 defeats, with 6 wins by knockout, on Nov. 22, 2013. In the meantime, Arum said that the expensive cream being used on Pacquiao’s calves to prevent cramping “has worked.” “The cream, which costs $1,800, was developed by people who are experts who really know. It is used extensively on basketball players and baseball pitchers,” said Arum. The promoter also said they have decided to cut the uphill runs at Griffith Park and are concentrating on running on the track oval with short bursts of speed. Roach’s assistant trainer, Filipino Marvin Somodio, said that Pacquiao looked fine when working on the punch-mitts yesterday after a good rest over the weekend. Source: Article, Image: flickr.com
