By Tom Drury: This subject has run its course and won’t be answered until and if the fight ever happens. That said I feel the need to write this article because some of the arguments for a Manny Pacquiao win are ridiculous and some of the fans have asked why I believe Pacquiao offers no threat whatsoever to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
For the fans that post comments along the lines of Mayweather has never been out of his comfort zone, I would like to tell you the whole boxing world had the opinion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was the man to take Mayweather out of his comfort zone, and we know what happened next.
Manny Pacquiao is a boxer/fighter with KO power. His style is reckless but exciting I agree. Pacquiao only succeeds against other fighters/brawlers (fact). Pacquiao is a rhythm fighter; he stays on his toes and moves in and out in a straight line like an amateur. Most amateurs are taught this way at the start of their boxing career, move in on the attack and out to avoid the counter it is a great point scoring style.
Pacquiao is a professional and I am not comparing him to an amateur; he has great power and speed, but this style only succeeds when he catches his opponent on the way in or is fighting an opponent that does not know how to box on the back foot or is not sufficient as a counter puncher.
If Pacquiao does not succeed moving in on the attack, then he eats counters and is very vulnerable. Juan Manuel Marquez is a prime example. I believe Marquez won two of the first three fights, but Pacquiao got the wins, so I respect that. Marquez is a fighter but has great technical ability in regards to timing, positioning and countering.
Marquez just has a tendency to fight. He is Mexican after all. The fourth fight was a prime example of technical soundness against reckless attacking. Marquez’s KO was no lucky shot; it was timed to perfection and exposed that bad positioning that Pacquiao all too often gets himself in.
Pacquiao is a front foot fighter only and his all-round boxing skills are limited; not to mention the jab been nonexistent. Pacquiao’s whole game plan when entering the ring is offence. Freddie Roach, his trainer, is no doubt a great trainer but his ethics and lessons are based solely on front foot attacks and does not consider any defensive tactics. Pacquiao can expose weaknesses also in his opponent but only offensive weaknesses like Ricky Hatton 2009. I can remember a local amateur coach telling me two weeks before this fight took place “Pacquiao will KO Hatton with a left hook within 5.” The reason was both brothers Matthew and Ricky Hatton lower their right hand when throwing a left hook to build momentum on the punch. I am not a Pacquiao hater; I have paid for many of his pay per view cards, and have been lucky enough to see him fight against Hatton in Las Vegas. I have also been on the edge of my seat watching his wars with Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Marquez. I appreciate him as a fighter.
Mayweather Jr., in my opinion, is the greatest all round boxer of all time. He has no weaknesses to expose, his defence can’t be penetrated, his offensive accuracy can’t be matched, his timing is so on point it is scary, and footwork is totally unorthodox and out of rhythm that it takes his opponents’ timing away. His fighting brain is razor sharp, and the way he makes adjustments has never before been seen not to mention his hand speed and jab (the most important punch in boxing). Mayweather has one of the best jabs in the game; he sets up other shots with it he keeps his opponents off balance with it, and the way he finds his range so quickly is crazy.
I am not going to babble on about Mayweather’s style because I’ll be in danger of been called bias. What I will say is there is no weakness for an offensive-minded fighter like Pacquiao to expose; none whatsoever, as Saul “Canelo” Alvarez found out. I couldn’t be so daft as to say Pacquiao could beat Mayweather based on styles, because that’s ridiculous. Mayweather is unbeatable. Offensive fighters won’t beat Mayweather. My opinion was this same opinion in 2010, and will always be the same Mayweather is far too superior to Pacquiao as a fighter he would box his ears off.
Mayweather is faster, smarter, sharper of the mind, more accurate, impenetrable defense, best counter puncher in the game, and most elusive. What more do you need to realize. This would be a mismatch. If any fans have a valid argument for why Pacquiao would give Mayweather trouble apart from “Pacquiao would pressure him more,” I would like to hear your argument. I have been waiting for 4 years to hear a valid argument based on styles and boxing skills to why Pacquiao would win?
I believe if Pacquiao gets past Brandon Rios on November 23rd, the fight the boxing world should be asking for is Pacquiao vs. Canelo, but that’s only if Canelo can still make 152lbs. I think that would be an exciting fight and I believe it would end with Pacman’s lights out late on in the fight. The only fighters that would make an interesting fight with Mayweather, if they occupied the same weight class, would be Andre “SOG” Ward and Bernard Hopkins. I still believe Mayweather would beat both but it would be interesting as they all fight with brain rather than brawn. Final word on this article is “Brains always beat Brawn” every time.
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