By Antonia Bufalino: The two superstar fighters walk to the center of the lit-up ring. Kenny Bayless stands before them and gives the routine instructions for the fight; however, it’s drowned out by the unending, monstrous roar of the hundred thousand people in the crowd. Floyd Mayweather Jr sways back in forth. Even with his mouth piece in, you can see the well-known arrogant smirk pulling on the corners of his lips. As the crowd screams Manny, he does a slight nod in acknowledgement and thinks back at how long the world has screamed Manny at him. Tonight, however, he looks forward to silencing them all.
Manny Pacquiao rocks back and forth on his feet with his eyes locked on Mayweather. His light-hearted, likeable personality seems to have disappeared. Instead, he glares at Floyd without even blinking. He appears to have a ravenous fire in his eyes the world hasn’t since he fought for the sake of his poor family. Is he thinking of all the times Mayweather has spat on his victories, defamed him, slandered his country’s people, and embarrassed him? Even through the lens of the camera, we can notice an emotion from Pacquiao that he’s never showed against any of his opponents- anger.
“Touch em’ up!”
Both fighters touch gloves, and go to their individual corners. Mayweather bounces in place, already trying to get a feel of his opponent’s energy. Pacquiao dominantly hits his gloves together and pursues the center of the ring before the first round even begins. Bayless tries to push him back, but Pacquiao is eager. He’s hungry. Mayweather flashes his celebrity smile seconds before the ring of the bell, unbreakable confidence. The fighters are ready.
“Ding!”
And round one begins.
This scenario is one that’s has been daydreamed in my mind many of times. The two fighters, best in the world, going head-to-head. You ask who’s my favorite, and I couldn’t tell you.
Most hard-core and casual fans will usually like one or the other due to how different their style, personality, and lifestyle is. Because of this, it’s hard to make predictions without biases seeping in. In this article though, I hope to objectively view this match-up by putting to rest myths, explaining why this fight is so interesting, and presenting different angles to look at.
The first myth that needs to be put to rest is basing a Mayweather/Pacquiao prediction off of a comparison of fights. It can be used to provide insight on an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, but making a prediction off another boxer’s fight is one of the sins in a boxing debate.
The one heard most is, “Pacquiao was knocked out by Marquez, and Mayweather easily beat Marquez. So, Mayweather will easily beat Pacquiao.”
This is a weak argument, so I will put it to rest.
Mayweather easily beat Marquez.
Pacquiao struggled with Marquez.
Bradley easily beat Marquez.
Pacquiao easily beat Bradley.
You simply cannot claim Pacquiao will fail because of Marquez’s struggle with Mayweather. Simply, Marquez and Pacquiao are two different fighters. Look at it this way, Marquez was never going to win the fight in probable circumstance. This was a fight of strengths. Marquez’s greatest strength is counter punching. Is there any question that Mayweather is a better counter puncher? Probably not, and if your opponent does your greatest strength better than you, it is highly unlikely you’ll win.
Another example of this is the Pacquiao/Bradley 2 fight. In the first four rounds, Bradley boxed Pacquiao. Unfortunately, Pacquiao’s volume-punching and speed overwhelmed him to where Pacquiao was still winning the rounds. So, Bradley resorted to slugging and trying for a KO. Pacquiao is a better slugger, so from that moment on, Bradley was doomed to lose. It became a fight of strengths, and Pacquiao’s style was stronger.
Now, the reason Mayweather/Pacquiao is such an intriguing fight is because it isn’t a fight of strengths. In fact, it is a fight of weaknesses. Look at the comparison below.
Floyd Mayweather
Greatest Strengths: defensive master, counter punching, straight right, adjustments, quickness(reaction time), hand speed, precision, boxing technician, movement (running)
Manny Pacquiao
Greatest Strengths: offensive master, volume punching, straight left, KO power, foot speed, hand speed, awkwardness, unrelenting energy, in and out (footwork)
Floyd Mayweather
Greatest Weaknesses: southpaws, straight left, hand speed, awkwardness,
Manny Pacquiao
Great Weaknesses: counter punchers, straight right, boxers, cutting off ring
The reason this is a fight of weaknesses is because you have two fighters who are facing their own kryptonite. Each boxer’s weakness is the other boxer’s strength. Of course, there’s other weaknesses and strengths for both, but I want to look at the ones that would most likely play a pivotal role in the fight. Some will say Mayweather has no kryptonite; however, I disagree. Floyd Mayweather has simply not faced it yet. If so, he’d have a loss. The closest we got to Mayweather finding it was against Zab Judah and Maidana to a much, much lesser extent.
In 2006, Mayweather fought speedy southpaw, Zab Judah. Now, Judah has never had the speed of Mayweather or Pacquiao, but he was still very fast. In the first five rounds of the fight, Judah won 4/5. In the 4th round, Judah threw a jab, jab, straight which was able to get through Mayweather’s “turtle-like” defense. Judah went on attack after Mayweather appeared it, and he pressured Mayweather; however, within a few seconds, Judah collapsed and clinched. Mayweather’s team had planned to tire him out, and it is exactly what happened. By the 6th round, Judah was gassed, and Mayweather decisively won every single round after. Then, against Maidana, Mayweather was hit by more punches than any other opponent has been able to do against him. Maidana threw awkward angles which is difficult to anticipate, especially for a technical fighter like Floyd Mayweather who’s relies a lot on anticipation and timing. Mayweather, being one of the all-time bests, still won the fight. However, combining Judah and Maidana into one fighter still doesn’t give you the fighter Manny Pacquiao is, and Mayweather has yet to face someone who has a combined skill set that Mayweather struggles with.
In the grand scope of things, we look at Pacquiao’s biggest struggle- Marquez. He struggled most against a powerful counter puncher, but it took 42 rounds and a KO for Marquez to finally win.
We look at Mayweather’s greatest struggle, and I will say it was Zab Judah. He struggled most against a speedy southpaw, but Mayweather made the adjustment and won decisively.
Next, Pacquiao has looked closer to his prime-self than Mayweather has in recent fights. Before the readers here claim blasphemy or bias, let’s review. Against Maidana, Mayweather was hurt in a way the fans have not seen in a long time since Mosley. Mayweather himself admitted it in the Maidana 2 post-fight interview by explaining how he got hit with punches he shouldn’t have been hit with. I have no doubt Mayweather’s quickness (reaction time) is still at 110%. However, his physical gifts seemed to have diminished slightly- particularly in his reflexes. Maidana was able to land, specifically the straight left that rocked Mayweather at the end of round 3 in their second fight. Maidana also had success in feinting Mayweather. Two things we know of Pacquiao is his straight left is his most formidable weapon, and he has mastered the art of feinting.
When you look at Pacquiao’s last two fights, you see him successfully blow through two undefeated boxers, Timothy Bradley and Chris Algieri. Even though he showed he still has his dangerous speed and power, he also showed he’s still prone to be hit with the right hand. When he attacks, he usually leaves his head as an open target. Mayweather will be hitting Pacquiao with right hands all night, and it will be his best weapon against him.
Pacquiao is less careful fighting opponents if he has no respect for their power. It will be important for him to get Mayweather’s respect for his power early on in the fight, but I say the same for Mayweather as well. Against Victor Ortiz, Mayweather often landed the straight right, but it didn’t stop Ortiz from coming forward. If Mayweather can’t force Pacquiao to respect his power, then not only will Pacquiao become confident, but he will also attack more freely without fear of being knocked out. If Pacquiao isn’t forced to think about the consequences of his attack and his activity is extremely high due to lack of respect, he could win on points.
Another important aspect of this fight is who will have control. Both fighters thrive being the “alpha” and having control in the ring. Mayweather controls his opponents by forcing them to fight his style. He controls the pace, the style, and the level of activity whether it’s through running, clinching, etc. This is exactly what Mayweather will do against Pacquiao. Mayweather will try to establish control early on. If Mayweather can force Pacquiao to box him, and neutralize the overly-aggressive attacker he is, then Mayweather will have a huge advantage. Because as I said previously, if your using a specific style or offensive weapon, and your opponent does it better than you, you’ll lose. Like Pacquiao/Bradley 2, Pacquiao forced Bradley to brawl and won. Bradley’s better than Pacquiao at boxing, not brawling, but when Pacquiao imposed his control and forced Bradley to fight his fight, Bradley fell to the disadvantage. If Mayweather forces Pacquiao to box, then Pacquiao will lose.
It is no doubt Floyd Mayweather is one of the best at ring generalship. However, a lapse in this was against Maidana. The level of activity from Maidana surprised him and, at some points, overwhelmed him- especially against the ropes. Still, Mayweather refused to fight Maidana’s fight and stayed composed, fighting his style even if Maidana didn’t fight. In the second fight, Mayweather came out and showed much more control, and as a result, made it way more lopsided in the end. Maidana is no Pacquiao though. Pacquiao will be able to land much more since he is faster than Maidana, even faster than Floyd. If Pacquiao’s ability to land on him frequently breaks him out of his defensive shell, then Pacquiao will have Floyd fighting his fight. As shown in his previous fights against boxers, Pacquiao is difficult to control since he is extremely unpredictable and aggressive, yet Mayweather is unparallelled in his ability to stay composed and patient. Control could end up being the deciding factor and both will be fighting very hard for it.
Now you have the best counter puncher going against the best southpaw of this era. An analysis over these fighters could go on for days, and there are many different angles you could approach. You have two All-Time Greats, the best offense vs the best defense, hopefully going head-to-head in the future. Each fighter has advantages over the other and weaknesses each can capitalize on. Pacquiao has never faced a Mayweather, and Mayweather has never faced a Pacquiao simply because they are no others like them. This is why I find it simply impossible to make a prediction.
On a different note, the mental battle may be as important, if not more important, than the actual fight itself. The “nice Pacquiao” we’ve seen for many years will likely disappear in this fight due to the insulting relationship the two seem to share. Mayweather is the only boxer Pacquiao openly disrespects and seems to genuinely not like; however, if Mayweather’s bombardment of trash talk can get in Pacquiao’s head, it could cause problems for Pacquiao. Twitter and Instagram are one thing, but we don’t know how he would handle Mayweather verbally assaulting him face-to-face as Mayweather did against Guerrero, Ortiz, Oscar De La Hoya, and many other opponents. Overall, don’t be surprised if you see a very angry Pacquiao looking for vengeance and an extremely focused Mayweather looking for verification. The battle of mentality will be an intriguing battle in this fight. A lion and a tiger, both imposing their wills on one another and raging war in a tiny space. For Mayweather, to prove he is undoubtedly the TBE, and for Pacquiao, to prove there truly was a legitimate reason for Mayweather to fear him all this time.
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