Boxing News: Trainer Virgil Hunter Says Floyd Mayweather Can Handle Southpaw Manny Pacquiao

World-class boxing trainer Virgil Hunter sees no problem for Floyd Mayweather against a southpaw like Manny Pacquiao when the fighters meet on May 2, 2015 in Las Vegas. Hunter, who has handled the careers of Amir Khan and Andre Ward among other fighters, believes that the undefeated American’s experience with quality left-handed fighters in past bouts will allow him to take care of Pacquiao in their highly anticipated fight.

“You’re talking about world-class southpaws at the time he fought Zab [Judah]. He’s a world-class fighter with a lot of speed. ‘Chop Chop’ [DeMarcus Corley] is a world-class fighter at that time. They were young, tough fighters,” he said in an interview with FightHype.com. “You can’t say that he struggled with them. Anytime, a guy wins nine out of 12 rounds that’s a shutdown. It’s not a struggle. You can honestly say that it took him a minute to figure it out.”

The opinion of Hunter, who was the 2011 Trainer of the Year of the Boxing Writers Association of America, or BWAA, addresses one of the factors in the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight and who has the edge when the best boxers in the world finally meet inside the ring. In previous interviews in past years during the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiation, Bob Arum, the chief of Top Rank Promotions stated that Mayweather has avoided left-handed fighters like Pacquiao in the American's pro career.

Mayweather’s notable experiences against fighters with a southpaw stance include fights against Zab Judah in 2006 and DeMarcus Corley in 2004. Both fighters won a few rounds against Mayweather but the American still came away victorious in unanimous decisions in those fights.

Hunter is an experienced boxing trainer and aside from handling Khan and Ward has also trained boxers Karim Mayfield,, Brandon Gonzales, Alfredo Angulo, Chazz Witherspoon and Mike Dallas Jr. in the past. Currently, he is the boxing coach for Abner Mares, Demetrius Andrade, Argenis Mendez and Andre Berto. While Hunter believes that Mayweather can handle Pacquiao and his southpaw stance, the boxing trainer failed to give a prediction and said that he “don’t pick winners or losers” and that he will just watch the fight.

Email j.gloria@IBTimes.com.au to contact author.