Mayweather needs to trade more punches with Pacquiao to win, says Tyson

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Unbeaten Floyd Mayweather's usual conservative style might not be enough to hold off Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao, former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson has warned.

He is just the latest big name to weigh in with an opinion on how the long-awaited showdown between the two pound-for-pound greats might go when they step into the ring in Las Vegas on May 2.

"He has to fight," Tyson said this week of Mayweather, in a video posted on YouTube.

"If he's not going to score, he is going to lose the round. Also, if he is laidback, he is going to lose the round."

Tyson noted the fighters who had troubled Pacquiao had been prolific punchers.

"Floyd doesn't throw nowhere near 100 punches a round," he said.

"He's more, you know, scientific about it. He really plots a lot. And he sits around and he poses. And this guy (Pacquiao) is all over - fading, moving.

"I just don't think (Mayweather) is going to be able to play that plotting skill... Floyd's got to fight the first couple of rounds."

Tyson is not the only former heavyweight world champion who has his eye on the bout.

Evander Holyfield said he plans to be at the welterweight unification bout.

He added that the differing styles of Mayweather and Pacquiao make the fight hard to handicap.

"Pacquiao, the only way he can win is if he corners him off," Holyfield said.

"Can he corner him off? If he corners him off, I think he will win... I don't think he can. But that's what makes the fight so interesting."

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