By Raj Parmar: As the time ticks down to the opening bell for the long awaited showdown between modern boxing greats Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, many wonder if the “Pacman” can be the one to halt Mayweather’s almost 20 year undefeated run as a professional prizefighter.
Heavyweight legend Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record is seen as a treasured jewel in the sport of boxing and at 47-0, Floyd is quickly nearing Marciano’s mark. Mayweather however may be facing his toughest test in the form of the eight division world champion Pacquiao in a match-up that fans have been craving for over five years.
This article will take a look at three of Manny’s biggest strengths against Floyd as he attempts to be the first one to put a loss on Mayweather’s record and claim the spot as best boxer of this generation.
1) Awkwardness: Former Pacquiao opponent Brandon Rios, who dropped a unanimous decision to Manny in 2013, summed up the Filipino’s boxing style best when he said that he felt like he was being hit by three Pacquiao’ s in the ring. This is due to the fact that Manny connects on his punches from angles where it is not normal for a puncher to throw and land from, which makes trying to defend against his attack into a nightmare. In his last fight against Chris Algieri, Manny was able to knock down Algieri six times mostly because Algieri was being hit by punches he did not expect and couldn’t see. Mayweather is the best defensive fighter of this era and it is virtually impossible for a boxer who fights conventionally to beat him, as Floyd mastered the art of boxing at a very early age. The fact that Manny is a non-conventional fighter makes him a more difficult matchup for Mayweather.
2) Volume: Manny has become famous for throwing punches in bunches and unleashing furious combinations at a time on his opponents. Few will ever forget the double digit combinations Pacquiao threw at Oscar De La Hoya in 2008, which forced the overwhelmed “Golden Boy” to quit on his stool and announce his retirement shortly afterwards. Mayweather has excellent vision in the ring and can see punches coming well in advance and gets out of harm’s way very instinctively. If Manny can throw his patented six to eight punch combinations on Floyd then there is a chance that some of those punches will get through Mayweather’s guard and connect clean on the pound for pound king. Fighters like Robert Guerrero and Canelo Alvarez lost virtually every round against Floyd as they did not throw enough punches and thus Mayweather had a very easy time evading and countering. If Pacquiao can maintain high volume combination bursts throughout the fight, he will give Mayweather a tough night.
3) Underdog Status: This may prove to be a critical factor in the fight. Pacquiao is a fighter who fights on emotion and passion, rather than the logic and science that Mayweather fights with. In past fights where Pacquiao was the favorite, the extra drive needed to put forth an extra effort to punish his opponent may have been missing. Manny looked lackluster in his fights with Joshua Clottey, Shane Mosley and Tim Bradley; fights where Manny was considered beforehand to have an easy time to win. In higher risk fights against De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto, Manny seemed to have an extra bounce in his step as he knew he needed to go the extra mile because victory was by no means assured. Being a substantial underdog to Floyd may give Manny the foundation to be able to dig deep and pull out a little something extra, which can do wonders for a fighter who fights on raw energy such as Manny does.
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