Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not new to gloves controversy. Now, the ones he has reportedly picked for Saturday's fight with Manny Pacquiao are under scrutiny for their make – and their chic design.
On May 2, the undefeated champ will wear Grant gloves, as he has done in all but one of his fights since 2006. This time, however, they are custom-made and Pacquiao’s trainer wants to make sure that under the pretty design all regulations are being observed.
Freddie Roach has requested to see the gloves at least 24 hours ahead of the bout.
"Grant is doing his gloves, and they're all custom-made, and I'd like to know what he's using – like what he's putting in those gloves, and what materials they're made with," he said last week, as quoted by mlive.
Even though glove weights are standard – eight-ounce gloves for welterweights – the padding and its distribution can vary and have an impact on the punch.
Pacquiao’s team said he will stick to the Mexican brand Cleto Reyes, which are considered more conducive to punchers.
"Our gloves are made by machine in Mexico," Roach told mlive. "They're the same all the time. They're very standard. Top Rank has a warehouse full of them. They'll grab 10 pairs and we'll pick our gloves from one of the 10."
"I'm a little bit worried about the weight of the gloves, and the padding, because I know that Floyd has a little bit of fragile hands," he added. "It's something that runs in the family. I think that they all can punch really well but they have small hands.”
Last year, the night before fighting Marcos Maidana, Mayweather threatened to pull out of the fight if the Argentinian didn’t change to a different pair of gloves. Mayweather personally inspected the gloves and claimed they were insufficiently padded in the striking area.
Tables seem to have turned this time around, and Pacquiao remains not the least intimidated. "I know I'm going to win the fight in the ring, so relax," the Filipino told the crowd on Tuesday, just hours after arriving to Las Vegas in a motorhome from Los Angeles.
Oddsmakers aren't so convinced, with Pacquiao remaining about a 2-1 underdog for a fight expected to earn him more than $100 million.
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