by Sam S: Most of the times in recent years, we have seen Pacquiao say in post fight interviews when asked about Mayweather that he is just a fighter whose job is to fight, Bob Arum is the one who sets up the fights. But, recently after the Algieri fight, we saw for the first time Manny calling out Floyd, which is the intelligent thing to do as he knows that both of them are not getting any younger anymore. Both of the fighters have fought great opponents throughout their careers, but, if they don’t fight each other their legacies will be incomplete besides the fact that there is a lot of money to make in that fight which cannot be equalled by any other fight.

Both fighters have lived disciplined lives, keeping themselves fit, which is part of the reason that after so many years they are still on the top of their game. Pacquiao has been in a lot of wars throughout his career: Morales, Barrera, Marquez, Cotto, Margarito, etc, so he could have been damaged goods by now, but, he is a freak of nature as he still shows the same amazing coördination on his feet as in his early days although he may not be as explosive as before. Floyd has been very intelligent in this matter as he has taken very little punishment throughout his career thanks to his defensive shell, so, he is also still at world-class level maybe not as coördinated and fast on his feet as in his prime, but still extremely good. This thing about Pacquiao and Mayweather is that they are so gifted that even when they come down some few notches from their prime, they are still better than everyone else.

Now, if this fight happens how do I expect it to pan out. Well, I’ll say that Floyd will be favoured.

Why will Floyd win the fight?

Floyd is the best defensive fighter in the world, so landing a clean punch on him will be very hard as Mayweather is intelligent to avoid going toe-to-toe with Manny. The other thing is Manny is open to upper cuts because of his triangle defensive shell. Floyd breaks down fighters with his well-timed upper cuts. Manny has had problems with a counter puncher in Marquez… Floyd is an even better counter puncher, although he does not take that much risk as Marquez to land his counters, but, being the adapting boxer that Floyd is, he surely will take more risks in this fight to land his counters. Floyd also knows when and how to frustrate fighters and then take benefits of their frustration. Manny Pacquiao’s style is to feint land and then turn to his left, which sometimes leads him to straight right hands from orthodox fighters, the most famous incident being the KO 6 of Marquez over Pacquiao in 2012, so, Floyd will be able to land sharp right hand pretty well on Pacquiao. The most important factor in this fight for Floyd is that he is the bigger guy, Floyd is 5’8″ with 72″ reach compared to Manny’s 5’6.5″ and 67″ reach, so Floyd can stay on the outside and hit Manny, frustrating him in the process, when the fight is at such a high level then those small differences matter a lot.

Why will Manny win the fight?

We all will agree that to win this fight, Manny will have to put on the best performance of his life. Manny is a very unorthodox fighter. He is an aggressive volume puncher who also has power in both hands and is a southpaw. He is a very active fighter who can overwhelm you with a lot of punches if you are not accustomed to throwing a lot and hence winning the close decisions on judges scorecards. Most of Manny’s critics will say that an outclassed fighter like Algieri made him miss 66 percentage of his shots. Now there are levels to this. Manny throws a lot of check shots which are not punches but just action, he throws them to figure out what his opponent is thinking. Secondly, Manny has always been a fighter like that who throws a lot and misses a lot, but when you are as noisy storm as Manny and connect even 35% of the time the overall total always is more than that of the opponent. That is the Manny style of fighting, he is not precise and economical like Floyd, but he keeps throwing so many punches so that he outlands you most of the time.

Manny also is great at creating angles in such a way that even when you are in your defensive shell he can land his shots. Manny is a combination puncher and there’s no pattern to his combinations …they are very erratic, so you can’t set up for them from the beginning. Mayweather has never faced someone with the combined speed, power and the will of Manny Pacquiao. Floyd takes time to adjust to fighters, so the result of this fight will be decided by who dominates the second half. It is important for Manny to get Floyd’s respect for his power initially. The most important factor in this fight in favour of Manny is that he can throw way more punches than Mayweather and can land some more than Mayweather, they may not be as clean and precise as Floyd’s but, then can play a role in swaying the judges to Manny’s side.

So, who do I predict to win? I am not going to pick sides here, it’s a toss-up fight at this stage of their careers but like I said earlier, Mayweather will be correctly favoured. According to my experience though, I’ll never bet against Manny and I’ve learned that the hard way. He never ceases to surprise and amaze me. But, lets hope this fight finally happens no matter who wins. What will a win mean for Floyd? It will mean a lot, this win will cement his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of all times. What will a win for Manny mean? Thats a big one, if he does win, he will prove his critics wrong, he will cement his legacy and be called the Roberto Duran of our generation and he will prove to the world that Floyd is beatable.

Comment below about what you think of the fight and how you think it’ll pan out.