By Kristofer Williams Sr. Several of the greatest boxers of ALL TIME were asked this year what they thought if Filipino fighting legend, Fighter of the Decade, 4-time Fighter of the Year and 8-division world champion Manny Pacquiao were to go mano-y-mano with one-time Fighter of the Year Floyd Joy Mayweather.

With no hesitation Lennox Lewis said to ringnews24.com, “Pacquiao would win…I think Manny would have that…edge.”

I’d have to completely agree with the great Lennox Lewis. After all, he was the undisputed heavyweight world champion from 1999-2004. There is no questioning Lewis’ credentials as an all-time great. He defeated future Hall-of-Famers Evander Holyfield and Vitali Klitschko, and knocked out Oliver McCall and the one-and-only “Iron” Mike Tyson. If there’s an expert whose opinion you could trust, it would be Lewis.’ He is well aware of both Pacquiao’s and Mayweather’s strengths and weaknesses after having covered boxing as an analyst and commentator since he retired in 2004, and it seems as if Lewis thinks Mayweather just wouldn’t have enough to handle and nullify Manny’s aggressive fighting style.

Lewis added, “Pacquiao will break you down, break you down, break you down. He’s breaking you down to try to knock you out. He’s trying to impose his will on the person in there with him.”

Lewis hit the nail on the head. He is basically saying that Pacquiao’s style would overwhelm Floyd’s defensive nature. Even Floyd Mayweather Sr recently expressed major concern that his son’s style of potshotting and shoulder rolling may not be enough against a younger volume puncher like Pacquiao because his son is getting older by the minute and with age comes a decline in reflexes, speed, power, all of the above. And the fact Floyd hardly likes to throw more than a one-two combination, it could all spell trouble for Floyd Joy once he decides he’s mentally ready to accept the challenge of fighting the Filipino.

All this overrated hype as a result of Floyd’s mouth and Al Haymon’s marketing expertise and business savvy and Mayweather fanboys and groupies may just as well be disappointed when they finally realize Floyd’s overrated philly shell won’t stand a chance against Manny’s punches-in-bunches. We would all end up seeing a major disparity, with Manny embarrassing the American shoulder roller and giving him a lesson in the true meaning of what it’s like to be in a bloody war.

Not only did Lewis imply that Manny would overwhelm Floyd, but even other boxing all-time greats such as Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Larry Holmes also chimed in and expressed their dismay with Mayweather. The Hall-of-Famer Hagler, undisputed middleweight champ from 1980-1987 and known by most boxing insiders as THE greatest middleweight champion ever, said this year to ESPN, “Here’s a guy (Mayweather) that wants to dictate to another person and wants to tell you what he wants to do. I think Pacquiao is right. Who are you? If you want to fight, let’s fight. Let’s stop all this nonsense.” Hagler then went on to say that he thinks Pacquiao has the advantage over Mayweather.

How can anyone argue with Hagler? If Sergio Martinez thinks Floyd can beat Pacquiao, and Hagler thinks Manny has the edge, I’d most certainly side with Hagler. You cannot argue that Hagler, the Hall-of-Famer, has way more credentials and garners a lot more respect in the fight game than Martinez.

Holmes, widely considered as one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all time (WBC champ from ’78-’83, The Ring champ from ’80-’85, IBF champ from ’83-’85) who made 20 successful title defenses (which was second only to Joe Louis’ 25), said in a recent interview at Mlive.com that “Mayweather just got a little too scared if you ask me…he was scared to take that challenge. If they never fight, it won’t be Pacquiao’s fault. Every time they came around to fighting, Mayweather put his excuses in.”

Once again, how can you argue with Holmes, another Hall-of-Famer? I know I can’t. Holmes beat Ken Norton, Muhammad Ali, Gerry Cooney, Leon Spinks, and Marvis Frazier for crying out loud. I’m not the least bit surprised that Holmes always thought Mayweather is scared to fight Pacquiao let alone take a risk. After all, Mayweather retired in 2007 at the top of his game while fighting at 154 lbs, thereby foregoing any opportunity to cement his legacy by taking on some of the most dangerous power punchers in their prime at the time – Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley, Paul Williams, Miguel Cotto, and Kermit Cintron.

Instead, Floyd un-retired for the second time in 2009 to fight Juan Manuel Marquez at a CATCHWEIGHT of 144 lbs when Marquez had never before fought anywhere above 135 lbs. Not to mention his 147 lb bout with Ricky Hatton, when we all know that Hatton’s most comfortable weight was 140, the division where Hatton made his name. Say all you want about Pacquiao’s three career catchweight fights (vs. Cotto, vs. Margarito, vs. Marquez 3), but Floyd is guilty of the same at the welterweight division. To make it fair, when Floyd and Pacquiao were both fighting at featherweight, they took on the best the division had to offer with no catchweight fights.

Perhaps Lewis put it best: “Pacquiao is trying to climb that hill each round, to get further and further, and do damage and knock you out…The thing that lacks with Floyd is that he would rather run around the ring and make you miss and dance around.”

So there you have it. The real experts have spoken.