By Simon Sheppard: First let’s define fear. Fear invokes the the primal instinct in all of us. The primal instinct of self preservation. In such a basic sense, the answer to the question is no.

But let’s delve further and add some components to our definition before we go on. Two things: the fear of losing and being humiliated…….and the fear of getting hurt.

Brittle hands

Lets face it, Floyd Mayweather, throughout his career has never really hurt his opponents the way Pacquiao did. The real skill of Mayweather, apart from his defense, is the way he utilizes his opponent’s momentum to time his shots, thus increase the impact of the punch. The perfect timing in clocking his opponents.when they are in a forward movement. Yes he has KO’s on his record, but his opponents were never really that hurt.

The hurt machine

Pacquiao, on the other hand, can generate so much power in his shots that he can KO even a non forward-moving target. His shots really hurt his opponents. Being as he is, if he was a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier, he could have ruled the HW division and literally send his opponents to the hospital.

From the messed up face of South African Ledwaba and the manner he sent the Kazak Yesmangetov from the center of the ring to the far corner with a punch, to the way he made the Mexican Emmanuel Lucero do the “chicken dance”, the spectacle of the Thai Thawatchai being lifted off his feet from a Pacquiao shot, the bloody and pulpy faces of David Diaz and Miguel Cotto, the face of Oscar dela Hoya who looked like he got hit with a baseball bat, to the manner in which he sent Hatton into a semi-comatose state, the left hand of Pacquio is fearsome indeed.Pacquiao is the perfect embodiment of mass multiplied by speed equals the force and work divided by time equals power.
The hurt machine.

Fearsome fighters

Many may argue that how will someone who makes a living fighting experience fear at all. The word ‘prizefighter’ cannot equate to being afraid nor being scared.
Now, in every era, there comes a fighter who strikes fear into the hearts of some. Sonny Liston, Joe Loius, Lamar Clark, Rocky Marciano who broke Ron Latraza’s teeth through the mouthpiece, Big George Foreman, Mike Tyson and Edwin Valero (RIP) are to name just a few. Michael Spinks was so overcome with fear when he fought Tyson that night, he already lost even before the sound of the first bell rang. In every generation, there comes a big puncher who not only defeats, but brutalizes his opponents.
And in this generation, there is Manny Pacquiao.

The morphing of meek to mean

The anomaly in Pacquiao is that however meek and mild-mannered he is outside the ring, the moment he steps up inside that squared circle, he morphs into a relentless predator. He actually enjoys beating up his opponents with his excuse of just doing his job. Smiling between rounds in the past. The “No Fear” headband. Slamming his gloves together when tagged as if to say let’s really get it on!
A fighter in all his savage and brutal splendor.

Never wobbled, not once, not ever

Floyd Mayweather developed his style of fighting for one simple reason; he does not relish getting hit. Now you may ask, who in his right mind does? The difference between Floyd and the slugger, eg. Mexican fighters, is that the latter is always willing to eat some leather to land some of his own, ever so confident of his own physiscal thresholds in taking shots. That is not Floyd’s style at all. So he perfected his style and as a consequence, has never been hurt in his entire career. He got tagged sure, but never seriously hurt. In the Mosley fight, for the first time in his life, he knew what it felt like to stand on shaky knees. For the first time, he finally felt the difficulty of focusing the eyes. The dizziness, the short circuit of the brain when it slams against the cranial walls. But luckily for him, there was no follow up from Mosley. The flowing combinations of Sugar Shane when he hurt Margarito were not there. Luckily for Floyd, Mosley just gassed out. When he recalls that, his words – “not cool” moment, and thinks of Pacquiao in there instead of Mosley, the very thought must give him nightmares. He knows he cannot really hurt Pacquiao, but Manny can really put some hurt on him.
One heck of a scary thought for Floyd.

So to answer the question – yes.

Not only in losing the zero, but also in getting hurt and humiliated. Images of all those bloody and busted faces must haunt him. The image of a Hatton’s with dazed and unfocused eyes and gasping for breath must really scare him. There is no doubt in Floyd’s mind that Pacquiao can hurt him. Hurt him really bad.

So again, does he, Floyd Mayweather Jr. fear Manny Pacquiao? Yes…….and inside that ring, who doesn’t?