Manny Pacquiao may be 11 years older than Errol Spence Jr. but his conditioning coach believes the Filipino dynamo will still be too much for the unbeaten American.
Coach Justine Fortune said Pacquiao will still be faster and stronger than Spence and these will be the Filipino's keys to victory.
"Pacquiao is on a different level,” the Australian conditioning coach said in Esnews. “Pacquiao is a different animal."
Pacquiao has recently announced he will be challenging Spence, the WBC-IBF welterweight champion, on August 21.
This despite him being 42 and Spence being 31. The heavy-hitting American also stands 5-foot-9 1/2, dwarfing Pacquiao by three and a half inches.
But these don't matter, said Fortune.
"It's just the volume of Pacquiao's punches, ferocity and speed and the power," he said.
“I don’t think he (Spence) is as strong as Pacquiao. He’s strong, but he’s not Manny-strong. And I’m sure as (expletive) he ain’t Manny-fast. Manny is (42) but he is still incredibly fast,” added Fortune.
The conditioning coach also said he considered the bout a special one as it could be Pacquiao's farewell fight.
"This is a special fight. It may be his last. It's just a fight you don't want to miss," said Fortune.
"Maybe not be in numbers, money. But career wise, the way you want to stop or end your career, it's a very very big fight."
FROM THE ARCHIVES