1-IMG_8270 By Babatis Banda: Many times before, I mentioned that the fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao would really not live up to expectation. The expectation was that Pacquiao would shred Maywether Jr. like a piece of paper. Of cause, the reference point was what Pacquiao did to Oscar Dela Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Magarito and Ricky Hatton amongst others.

So much was said about Pacquiao’s power, speed, so called awkward angles and his, in and out fighting style. So much was said about how in-effective the shoulder-roll would be considering that Pacquiao was a south-paw.

I disagreed all the time. In all of my previous articles I described exactly what came to pass on May 2. I said it many times that Pacquiao would find no target for his combos. I also said how hard he will get countered to a point where he would be very respectful of Floyd. Pacquiao was really nailed through-out this fight with mean intentions. Pacquiao landed his signature straight left a couple of times, but not enough to unsettle the great Mayweather. Floyd’s jab kept Pacquiao at bay and he was in some instances shifted off his heels by mean check-hooks. The check-hooks at times made Pacquiao to look so ordinary and vulnerable. To me, it was evident Floyd could have stopped Pacquiao if he had really chosen to be much more aggressive but like he said, I had to keep calm and watch him closely. Pacquiao tried the Marcos Maidana style, to swarm Floyd with punches, but Floyd was solid and intact. Styles indeed make fights.

Floyd’s belief in his skills is not from nowhere. He believes in his skills and if nobody else believes in him, it mattered less. That crowd in the arena and to some extent the commentators, were all Manny supporters. At least that is my view, but they were all subdued. If Pacquiao had won or was doing well, you can imagine what noise was going to be in that arena. It was like Floyd was all alone, a lamb in the midst of wolves all waiting to tear him apart. Deep in his heart knew that after it was all done and dusted, they would be subdued and they were.

Now, make no mistake. I have always said that many people started to believe that Pacquiao could beat Mayweather because this fight was too long in the making. Floyd beats Pacquiao 10 years ago. Floyd beats Pacquiao 5 years ago and Floyd still will beat Pacquiao 5 years from now. You can have 20 re-matches and Floyd will still beat Pacquiao.

In short, Pacquiao is second best at most. Even that may be contested because there is Marquez who obliterated Pacquiao and had very close and controversial wins over him.