By Sam Burke: Come May 2nd will be the biggest fight of the century between Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. and Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. What people need to remember is this is a fight. It is 2 all-time great fighters stepping in to the squeak circle. It is not about who is a nice guy or who we like more as a person. It’s about who will win and who the better boxer is. I think both fighters have a chance, but in my eyes the winner will be Floyd and here is why:
Pacquiao was a KO puncher at one point in his career, but it has been six years since his last KO. So it would seem he lost a lot of his power. Two years ago Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, fired strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
Since they let him go, Pacquiao has not gotten a KO. Manny has also become a politician which takes a lot of his time, as well as him making movies and now being a player and coach of a Filipino basketball team. Pacquiao is all those things. Then there is the fact that he became a man of God and is really big in to his religion and spreading the word of God. There is nothing wrong with that, but I don’t know if there is room for that in the ring. You need the eye of the tiger, you need that drive to do whatever it takes. You need to hurt the guy in the ring across from you. I don’t think he has that need or want to finish a guy.
Now when you talk about Floyd, he is one thing and one thing only, a fighter. He LOVES his ‘O’ at the end of his record and he lives for that. The only thing that matters is keeping the ‘O’. Floyd is a counter puncher, always has been. His defense is, in my eyes, the best of any boxer to ever live. His ability to adapt in the middle of a fight and his ring IQ is also next level. He has a new strength and conditioning coach that happens to be Pacquiao’s old coach Alex Ariza. I think that will be a big help for Floyd and knowing how Pacquiao and Roach train. It will also, give Floyd the extra punching power he needs in this fight with his age not making him any faster.
Pacquiao uses his in and out style in boxing: come in, hit a few times, and get out. That plays in to Mayweather’s style as a counter puncher. The first thing to slow down in most boxers is their legs. Not head or hand speed which Floyd relies on. Mayweather also has size at being 5’8 with a 72 inch reach and Pacquiao being only 5’6 with a 67 inch reach. Mayweather could come in to the fight as big as 154 which will help Mayweather bully Pacquiao on fight night when Pacquiao has never been more then 145.
Mayweather and Pacquiao have fought many of the same guys such as Oscar Dela Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, and SHANE Mosley. They have beaten all these guys in their own way with ease except one for Pacquiao. The easiest fight out of all these guys for Mayweather happens to be the only one Pacquiao struggled with in his four fights with Marquez when Pacquiao got a draw back in 2004, controversial wins in 2008 and 2011 and then got knocked out in 2012.
After all that said, this is why I believe Floyd has the advantage and will beat Pacquiao.
They say Mayweather’s weaknesses are throwing lots of punches and south paws, but we will see, Pacquiao has both of those things as well. Until we see Mayweather lose, we won’t really know what his weaknesses are.
Prediction: Mayweather 12 round unanimous decision, winning eight rounds to four.
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