Pacquiao weighed in at 145 and 146. But after the weigh-in, it got interesting during the stare down between the two fighters. Mayweather looked emotionless while staring Pacquiao. It was as if he was staring at yet another guy that he was going to beat and add another notch to his gun belt.
Pacquiao either looked like he was faking confidence or simply him just not being in tune with what’s actually going to happen tomorrow night. Some people just don’t realize what they’re getting themselves into as they walk into situations where they don’t have the skills to deal with what they’re being presented with.
While some boxing fans are interpreting Pacquiao’s grinning as a sign that he feels he’s going to beat Mayweather, you can also see it as a case of false courage. Sometimes fighters will try and show an emotion that is the opposite of what they’re feeling inside. For instance, you’ll see someone showing outward joy to someone that that they intensely dislike. It’s a masking skill to hide the inner emotion.
In looking at Pacquiao grinning at Mayweather during the faceoff today, I couldn’t help but think that Pacquiao is very apprehensive about what’s going to take place on Saturday when he gets inside the ring with Mayweather. If it is real courage and self-belief on Pacquiao’s part, then you have to wonder what he’s going to do if/when things go south on him and he starts getting dominated by Mayweather.
That is a very real possibility that can happen tomorrow night. Will the smile stay on Pacquiao face as he quickly falls behind in the fight, or will he go to pieces mentally as it starts to dawn on him that he doesn’t have the talent to do to Mayweather what he did to the guys that his promoter Bob Arum has been matching him up against in the last seven years.
This isn’t Chris Algieri, Brandon Rios, Tim Bradley, Shane Mosley, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, or Ricky Hatton that Pacquiao will be facing on Saturday night. This is a fighter that easily defeated Marquez, the fighter who arguably beat Pacquiao all four times. Mayweather didn’t just beat Marquez, he totally dominated him from start to finish, and this was a prime version of Marquez in 2009.
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