Manny Pacquiao Faster Than Floyd Mayweather Jr., Justin Fortune Says

Manny Pacquiao is faster than the undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather, Justin Fortune claimed. Joaquin Henson, a sports analyst in the Philippines recently asked the strength and conditioning coach of Manny Pacquiao, Fortune if the catch-weight would affect Pacquiao's performance in the ring.

The Filipino boxing icon, Manny Pacquiao is set to defend his title against the American Chris Algieri in Macau on Nov. 22. Pacquiao fights regularly at 147 lbs. but this time, he will go down to 144 lbs., which some observers think is a mistake given that the eight-division world champion has already mastered his craft at 147 lbs.

Justin Fortune told Henson that fighting at 144 lbs. will not be a problem for Manny Pacquiao and the change in weight will not affect the speed of Pacquiao, whom Fortune claimed is faster than Mayweather.

"I don’t think anyone is faster than Manny at either weight, he’s certainly faster than [Floyd] Mayweather. There’s no fighter out there who’s faster in the welterweight division even if Manny might have slowed down a bit one or two notches." Fortune declared via Philippines Star. "That’s just the way he is.”

Although Fortune claims that he never predicts how a fight ends, he makes an exception with the upcoming Pacquiao vs. Algieri fight next month, where he guarantees that Manny wins because he fights his fight and he listens to Freddie Roach. He also added that Manny stays sharp for this fight.

Meanwhile, trainer Freddie Roach took a direct shot at Chris Algieri during a conference call. Roach suggested that some of the sparring partners of Manny Pacquiao were better than Algieri and even added that "sometimes, the truth hurts."

In preparation for the Pacquiao vs. Algieri fight, the Filipino boxing icon is sparring with the Philadelphia welterweight Mike Jones, a 6-footer welterweight who has previously lost his two fights and Stan Martyniouk a 5'10 junior welterweight. Martyniouk personally thinks that the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion will not have a tough time given his speed and power, but it will be a very tough fight for the American.