Mayweather Sr: Maidana is a better opponent than Pacquiao

By Boxing News - 04/15/2015 - Comments

floyd000134By Chris Williams: Trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. isn’t impressed with Manny Pacquiao as an opponent for his son WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26 KOs) at all. In fact, Floyd Sr. feels that Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs), Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero were tougher opponents for Mayweather than Pacquiao will prove to be.

Floyd Sr. sees Maidana as someone who would whip Pacquiao if the two of them fought each other. After watching Mayweather fight the bruising 165 pound Maidana twice, Floyd Sr. has a lot of respect for what Maidana is capable of doing inside the ring, especially against a much smaller opponent like the 5’6” Pacquiao.

“I’m not going to say it’s the biggest victory. I believe that Alvarez was a better opponent,” Floyd Sr., said via Fighthype. “Maidana I think is better than him. Man, come on; put Maidana and Pacquiao in the ring together and see what happens. Maidana is going to rape him. After Floyd gets through whooping his [expletive], put him in with Maidana and see what happens.”

Floyd Sr. may prove to be right. Maidana might wind up having been a tougher opponent than Pacquiao will ultimately prove to be. The first fight between Maidana and Mayweather was a very tough one for Mayweather because he stood in the pocket against the ropes for almost the entire fight, and he had to deal with Maidana’s huge power and his weight advantage.

Maidana was almost as heavy as Canelo Alvarez when Mayweather fought him, but Maidana was a lot more aggressive than Canelo, and more intelligent. Maidana wasn’t afraid to get hit by Mayweather, and he going to make the same mistake that Canelo made by trying to box Mayweather instead of slugging with him. The combination of Maidana’s size, punching power, aggressiveness and nonstop punching made him a really difficult foe for Mayweather.

What could be the biggest reason why Maidana may prove to have been the better opponent for Mayweather compared to Pacquiao is because Maidana would stay on top of Mayweather when he would go on the attack. He wouldn’t back off and play the in and out attacking style that we see from Pacquiao every time he fights.

Maidana attacked in big waves like a giant tsunami that would crash over the shore without moving backwards. Maidana didn’t black off when he would attack. He was always coming forward. With Pacquiao, you can pretty much guarantee that he’ll charge forward like Ricky Hatton, throw some punches, and then retreat.

This will lead to Pacquiao getting hit on the way in, and then on the way out. While he’s in punching range, Pacquiao will likely have most of his shots blocked by Mayweather. Pacquiao will then back off and get nailed two or three times by Mayweather while he’s backing up.

I would give Maidana an excellent chance of beating Pacquiao and knocking him out if the two of them were to face each other. I don’t think for a second though that Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank would let Pacquiao fight a big slugger like Maidana, not unless Maidana were to agree to some catch-weight and perhaps even a rehydration limit to keep him from rehydrating into the 160s.

I don’t think Maidana would go for a catch-weight fight against Pacquiao, and definitely not a rehydration clause. It would be great if Pacquiao were willing to fight Maidana at the full weight for the welterweight division at 147, without a catch-weight handicap and without a rehydration limit, but I see that as the condition for Maidana agreeing to the fight.

We saw Pacquiao fight for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title at a catch-weight of 150 against Antonio Margarito in 2010. But in the case of Maidana, I can’t see them even agreeing to fight at the full weight of 147. I just don’t see it. Maidana is too big of a puncher, and I see there being some games being played to keep him from being at full strength.

If Juan Manuel Marquez was able to knock Pacquiao out with a single right hand to the head, I can definitely see Maidana doing the same thing, but a lot earlier in the fight.



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