By Lavon Shepard: After learning who Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao were facing next I figured it was worth the time to sit down and analyze both matches. Lets look first at Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto set for early May.
The amount of quality opponents for both Floyd and Pacman is rapidly declining and out of possible matchups Floyd pick one of the best out there. Miguel Cotto’s career seems to have been revived with his recent victory over Antonio Margarito and a new trainer in his corner. However, going up against Floyd will be a different story.
Unfortunately Cotto doesn’t have the hand or foot speed to do much damage to Floyd, with that impenetrable defense of his. Don’t get me wrong he has plenty of power but so did Ortiz, and we all know what happened there. Yes, he won because of a cheap shot but Floyd was peppering Ortiz with clean counter punches, which would have won him the victory anyway.
In the end, the fight with Cotto is good match making given the lack of other quality opponents, but I fear it will be one sided nonetheless with Floyd coming out on top. Now let’s look at Pacman’s upcoming fight. Manny is set to take on the top dog in the Jr. Welterweight division, Timothy Bradley.
Bradley has dominated all opposition since pulling out a close win in his WBC title defense against then WBO champion Kendall Holt in 2009. Bradley, who is undefeated, has beaten quality opponents including Junior Witter, Nate Campbell, Lamont Peterson, and Devon Alexander. The knock on the Bradley-Pacquaio matchup is that Bradley is not well known and doesn’t have the skill level of Manny Pacquaio.
There’s no arguing that Timothy Bradley isn’t a huge draw or a household name, but skill wise Pacman couldn’t have picked a more dangerous fight. Bradley is aggressive with solid if not great boxing skills, great hand speed, and loves to fight inside. Combine that with the opportunity of a lifetime and you might be surprised at the outcome.
I can’t speak for everyone else but frankly I am not interested in seeing the same fights over and over i.e. Pacquaio vs. Marquez or Cotto again. Should Bradley win no doubt that would put be a major set back to the May/Pac saga, which has its own drama as it is.
To those who complain about PPV sales and attendance numbers, that’s one of the major problems with boxing today. Promoters making fights for sales and not the quality of matchups, is hurting the sport. I’d rather watch a talented young fighter on the rise get a shot over watching a snooze fest with two popular fighters.
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