By Babatis Banda: On paper, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has every advantage of beating Manny Pacquiao. If the boxing world was to bet today, I know that all the odds would be against Pacquiao. Unfortunately, all that Pacquiao presence is hope for those that admire him, that he may be the only one capable of presenting a first Mayweather defeat.

To the pure boxing mind, it is not difficult to see how a fight against Floyd Mayweather jnr can be a nightmare for Pacquiao. This fight would present two types of nightmares. The first would be the clash of styles. Floyd would not engage Pacquiao in a silly physical fight. Floyd is definitely not a physical fighter. For example, Atturo Gatti looked good with fighters that stood in front of him to exchange punches as if it was in a movie. Atturo looked good in a ‘Rocky’ kind of physical fighting. What this would do is deny Pacquiao the chance to impose his physical advantages over the more polished and talented Floyd.

The second would be the damage a loss from Mayweather would cause to his so called legacy. There would be no comparisons anymore as to who is the best for this era. Pacquiao would quietly join the club of fighters like Chavez senior and be remembered as a very good fighter. The drug issue would not die just like that. The boxing community would still say; ‘may be…….. Pacquiao was truly on something’. It would also have a bearing on his presidential/political ambitions, looking at how some Filipinos have reacted on his most recent bad showings.

While even the most ardent of Pacquiao’s fans know deep inside their hearts that Mayweather does have an edge over Pacquiao, on paper that is, most have sunk into a more oblivious position that Mayweather is scared of facing the great Philipino fighter. This is a more comforting illusion to believe, aside of the politics that exist in boxing today. The more the fight has delayed, the more the illusions have imprinted minds into hard-core belief.

While Mayweather has all the advantages, at least on paper, Pacquiao presents hope of being the only one that can defeat him for now, but remember………it is more of hope than definite conviction.