By Dave Lahr: Since the potential mega fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao appears all but finished, boxing fans are left to wonder what might have happened had the stars of the sport fought on March 13th. We’ll probably never know at this point. However, it seems likely that Pacquiao would have had huge problems with the size, reach and boxing ability of Mayweather.
Pacquiao seemed to struggle during parts of his recent fight with World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto when the Puerto Rican fighter began to box and move on the outside. Pacquiao was forced to chase after him and eat a lot of jabs in the process.
Cotto isn’t nearly as good at moving and boxing as is Mayweather. Pacquiao would have been open for a lot of shots from Mayweather while chasing after him. In most of Pacquiao’s fights, he’s gone up against opponents that either stood there or else came at him. In other words, Pacquiao hasn’t had to chase down a sneaky defensive specialist like Mayweather.
The way I see the fight taking place is like this:
It would have been tough task for the smaller Pacquiao. Mayweather has centered his career around moving and boxing from the outside against fighters like Pacquiao. It would have been a fight where Mayweather would have likely held all the cards. Pacquiao would have little choice but to attack Mayweather, because if he were to let Mayweather stand on the outside, Pacquiao would have probably been riddled to pieces with Mayweather’s long jabs. But in going after Mayweather, that’s where Pacquiao would have had his main problems.
Mayweather can change directions at the drop of a dime to elude an opponent. Pacquiao tends to leave himself open when he’s rushing wildly forward trying to make contact with his opponents. This would present Mayweather with countless opportunities to blast away at Pacquiao with check left hooks and right hands to the head. Pacquiao might have great offensive skills when it comes to slugging, but he is capable of being hurt if he’s hit hard. Mayweather would have been putting hands on Pacquiao, hitting him each time Pacquiao came rushing forward.
There’s a good chance that Mayweather would have opened a cut over one of Pacquiao’s eyes early on in the fight. Once Mayweather had Pacquiao cut, he’d start aiming his shots at that area to try and further blind the injured Pacquiao and make it difficult for him to see where the punches are coming from. With only limited vision out of one eye, Pacquiao would have had problems against Mayweather. At this point, Mayweather would have unloaded a storm of punches on Pacquiao, possibly leading to a stoppage.
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