Pacquiao has not won by knockout since 2009, when he stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round of their fight. He is, however, coming off a sensational six-knockdown demolition of Chris Algieri in Macau.
"The whole thing is that, a lot of times – he's a great fighter, the expectation is he's supposed to knock people out, because he was knocking people out," Holyfield said of Pacquiao during an interview with Fight Hub TV.
"But the one thing I realized – when you start knocking people out, people stop fighting hard," he added. "They start trying to preserve themselves, they don't wanna get knocked out."
"They're not gonna win, but they don't get knocked out."
Holyfield said this is likely what happened with Pacquiao, and the cause of his knockout drought.
"When they thought he was too small, they kept rushing, and he knocked people out. Then all of a sudden, everybody goes straight defense," he said.
"It's become kind of a boring fight, and it don't look like he's working hard, but the other guy don't try to win. They just want to say 'You didn't knock me out'," he explained.
Holyfield also pointed out that Pacquiao, unlike his opponents, has shown no fear of engaging, even after he got knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez when they last fought in December 2012.
"He ran into a shot one time. But you know what, he made no excuses," said Holyfield. "He got up and he wanted to come back."
"That's the character of a person, when a person don't make excuses. When a person says, 'You know what? I got hit with one I didn't see'," he added.
"He got up, and the next fight he came up and fought back. He's a good fighter. He's the type of guy, you can never count him out," Holyfield stressed.
Holyfield was, of course, asked about a potential showdown between Pacquiao and unbeaten American champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., but the heavyweight refused to make a prediction.
He only pointed out that both Pacquiao and Mayweather could already be seen as winners considering the money they stand to make in a mega-fight.
"Other than becoming champion, you fight for money," he said. "So why not? Why not make the money? There ain't no loser in that fight."
"These two people are the very best. Somebody's gotta get the decision. Who's gonna be the best that night?" he added.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
