By Allan Fox: Manny Pacquiao took a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr last weekend when he claimed that Errol Spence Jr doesn’t need any helpful advice from him because he’s a “better” fighter than him.
There’s no question that Spence is far more exciting than Mayweather ever was during his career at 147. Floyd was a boring fighter after he moved up to 147, and he lacked the power to do anything more than throw single-pot shots.
The comment from Pacquiao was in response to Mayweather offering to help Spence by giving him tips for his match next month on August 21st against the former eight-division world champion Manny.
Not surprisingly, Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) didn’t like the idea of Mayweather, his former opponent from 2015, inserting himself into the equation, as if he knows the secrets in how to beat him.
Pacquiao says Spence is better than Mayweather
“You know actually Errol don’t need to have advice from Mayweather because I believe that Errol is better than Mayweather,” said Pacquiao.
“I think he will teach Mayweather how to fight toe to toe,” said Pacquiao.
Manny isn’t just talking about what Spence would do to the 44-year-old Mayweather right now. He’s talking about what he would have done to him in his prime.
Let’s face it; Mayweather wasn’t great at 147. He almost lost to Marcos Maidana, and he struggled badly against an injured Pacquiao, winning a controversial decision.
Mayweather’s win over a weight-drained 22-year-old Canelo Alvarez took in the 154-lb division, so it doesn’t count.
The reality is that Mayweather fought an injured one-armed Pacquiao, and he took advantage of the situation to grind out an incredibly boring 12 round decision and BARELY won.
Spence reacts to Pacquiao’s praise
“He [Pacquiao] will give you a lot of compliments and gratitude and things like that, and then as soon as the bell rings, he will be jumping all over you, so you know how I take it,” said Spence when told about Pacquiao’s comment about him being “better” than Mayweather.
That version of Mayweather would likely lose to the Spence that will be facing Pacquiao on August 21. That’s obviously what Pacquiao means when he says that Spence is better than that Mayweather.
If you could take Spence back in a time capsule and insert him into the ring in place of Manny on May 2nd, 2015, Mayweather would have been a world of hurt.
Spence had already worked over Mayweather during a sparring session several years earlier, and he had done a job on ‘Money’ during the workout.
By the time Mayweather fought Pacquiao, he would have been no match for Spence and he would have been knocked out. The power difference between Spence and Mayweather is EXTREME, and Errol’s jab is light years ahead of Floyd.
That’s not to say Spence is a better fighter in terms of floating between weight classes the way Mayweather did.
No, Spence can’t do that, but he is a better fighter than Mayweather ever was at 147.
Mayweather wasn’t great at 147. He looked weak, and he beat a bunch of old guys and smaller fighters like Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez, who had no business fighting at 147.
The fight was basically a rip-off in the eyes of many boxing fans, who paid $100 per household to watch it on pay-per-view. Mayweather played it safe and did just enough to get the win against the injured Pacquiao.
Spence would have been a nightmare for Mayweather if he’d been the one that faced him that night in May 2015. There’s a good chance that Spence would have stopped Mayweather because he would have all over him.