Light middleweight contender Austin Trout believes that Manny Pacquiao would have beaten Floyd Mayweather a year ago had the super fight between the superstars materialized last year.
In an interview with On The Ropes Boxing Radio, Trout said that Pacquiao would have been a tough opponent for Mayweather one or two years ago, but he quickly added that things are different now.
"I believe that maybe a year ago, one or two years ago, Manny Pacquiao would have beaten Floyd, but I don't see that happening now," Trout said.
The 28-year-old said that Pacquiao is not the same fighter now as he was a year ago, saying that the Filipino boxing icon has already lost a step. He pointed out that a fighter has to be in peak form in order to beat Mayweather.
"Manny is not the same fighter he was a year ago," Trout said. "A year ago, I think he definitely could have given Floyd his first loss, but he's slowed down a bit and he's lost a step or two. You got to be on your A game, firing on all cylinders, if you're gonna beat Floyd."
Pacquiao's punching power is another factor why Trout is convinced that Mayweather will win against Pacquiao if ever they'll meet in the near future, reiterating that the reigning World Boxing Organization welterweight champion has also lost his vaunted punching power.
But in Pacquiao's upcoming fight against Chris Algieri on Sept. 13 at the Venetian Resort in Macau, Trout is unsure whether Algieri has the tools to put the former pound-for-pound king in trouble.
"I don't want to talk down to Chris Algieri because they said that about him and Provodnikov and he ended up coming back and beating Provodnikov, and I'm glad they didn't rob him for that either," Algieri said. "We just have to see how that goes, you know. Algieri is a good boxer, but will he be able to outbox Manny Pacquiao? I don't personally think so, but again, I didn't think he was gonna be able to outbox Provodnikov like he did."
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