By Tony Lee: I recently wrote a brief article (which can be found here:
http://www.boxingnews24.com/2011/01/why-would-manny-pacquiao-give-floyd-mayweather-problems/) detailing some of the reasons why, should a bout ever take place between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather would have his hands full. But I also think Pacquiao would experience difficulties in fighting Mayweather as well. So now I will try to render an unbiased evaluation from the other side of the coin.

1. COUNTERPUNCHING. Floyd Mayweather is one of boxing’s all-time greats when it comes to his counterpunching ability. He has shown this ability against brawlers (e.g. Ricky Hatton) and boxers (e.g. Zab Judah) alike. No brawler has been able to overwhelm him, and no boxer has been able to outbox him. If Manny Pacquiao struggled against a comparably sized Juan Manuel Marquez, how could he expect to deal with a fighter like Mayweather, who has excellent counterpunching ability like Marquez, but is also considerably larger and faster than Marquez?

2. DEFENSE. Floyd Mayweather is arguably the best defensive fighter in boxing.
Only Joshua Clottey gets hit less. But where Clottey lacks stamina and late
round determination, Mayweather has both, and he has a much more active offense to boot. Throughout the course of his life, Pacquiao has made a career of
beating aggressive, come-forward fighters. Those kinds of fighters play into his
hands, because no one can match the Pacquiao’s quick, accurate, high volume
punch output. But what happens when Pacquiao finds out that most of his punches are being dodged, absorbed, or deflected? Either one of two things can happen: (a) He hits them in the gloves all day long and wins a decision (see the Clottey fight), or (b) He gets potshotted in between punches, and starts to break down in the later rounds. With a fighter who possesses the extraordinary defense and aforesaid counterpunching ability of Mayweather, Pacquiao might be in for a
rough ride.

3. SIZE. Floyd Mayweather is naturally larger than Manny Pacquiao. While
Pacquiao is currently a natural light welterweight, Mayweather is a natural
welterweight. Pacquiao came in at 148 pounds (on fight night) against Antonio
Margarito for their light middleweight bout. When he gets any heavier than 148
pounds, he becomes noticeably more sluggish and gives up many of the advantages he would have against comparably sized fighters. Most welterweights have a relatively difficult time making the 147 pound limit for weigh ins, but after
they rehydrate themselves, their weight shoots up considerably for fight night.
Mayweather has gotten bigger since his last couple of fights. In his fight with
Shane Mosley, he looked to be at least 155 pounds. If a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao were ever to occur, Pacquiao would be giving up 6-8 pounds on fight night. Anyone who has had ring experience knows that even a few pounds of extra weight can considerably impact the outcome of a fight.

4. STYLE. Manny Pacquiao excels at fighting people who come forward to meet him,
but how would he do against a counterpuncher of Mayweather’s caliber who stands back and lets his opponent come to him? It is possible that Pacquiao becomes like a deer in the headlights. He hasn’t fought someone as fast as Mayweather, and when his punches are being absorbed while he is being hit back with quick, crisp counters, he might think twice about coming in. This happened to Shane Mosley. Mosley kept a good amount of pressure on Mayweather in the early rounds, but he was soon dissuaded from coming in by Mayweather’s jabs, and he was relegated to trying to box from the outside. But you should never try to outbox a boxer, unless you’re a better boxer than that boxer. Pacquiao, like Mosley, is not a pure boxer; so if he has any chance of beating Mayweather, he has to keep his pressure constant and not get dissuaded by Mayweather’s jab.