Floyd Mayweather JR Vs Manny Pacquiao: The Best Fight in Boxing

Superlatives escape me. There are few that haven’t already been lavished on the special talents of Manny Pacquiao, and doubtless over the coming months there will be new ones invented to cope with the growing impossibility of describing the little Pinoy’s ring achievements.

At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas recently Pacquiao not only re-wrote the record books, but also re-made boxing folklore and accepted wisdom, when he ripped the WBO Welterweight Title from the bruised and bashed up Puerto Rican Miguel Angel Cotto with a performance of stunning speed and offensive ferocity.

Afterwards Cotto admitted that “I couldn’t see the punches coming,” as he found himself caught up in a maelstrom of violence perpetrated by the southpaw Filipino, who scored knockdowns in the third and fourth rounds, and went on to batter the champion mercilessly in the middle rounds of the fight. Unable to deal with the blinding speed of Pacquiao, Cotto managed to survive into the last round of the fight only by taking to his bike, with the Pacman walking him down remorselessly until referee Kenny Bayless finally took pity on him less than a minute into the 12th, and waved the carnage off.

Cotto had started the fight well, and played a full part in the first three rounds of the contest, in which both fighters put on a display of boxing technique seldom seen. The turning point came when Pacquiao landed a quick right hand which made Cotto touch-down in the third, and then, as if to showcase his versatility, the challenger dropped his man again in the fourth with a huge punch from the other hand. Poor Cotto just couldn’t stay with Pacquiao thereafter, hard as he tried, and he even had to suffer the indignity of having Pacquiao play rope-a-dope with him when the cognoscenti had insisted pre-fight that it would be the champion’s night if ever he could trap his opponent on the ropes. Pacquiao told his famous trainer Freddie Roach between rounds that “I can handle it” when the lauded coach berated him for allowing himself to be backed up against the ropes, and indeed he could, drawing Cotto on to punches and winning the vast majority of the exchanges.

It was something of a surprise therefore when Floyd Mayweather, JR., now Pacquiao’s arch-nemesis and only serious contender for the title of pound-for-pound best, described the Pacman as lacking “versatility” after the contest. Of course Mayweather is trying to set up a blockbuster of a match with Pacquiao on his own terms, and in his opening salvo has suggested that his longevity, title achievements, and the fact that he’s yet to be beaten, entitle him to 65% of the pay-per-view takings. Floyd went on to suggest that all roads lead to Floyd Mayweather, and that he is the “face of boxing”.

He’s wrong. Pacquiao put paid to that last Saturday. In the last 12 months, Manny has dismantled Oscar De La Hoya, destroyed Ricky Hatton, and now crushed Miguel Cotto, three modern greats at the height of their profession. Before that he’s come out on top of Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, at a time when those three exceptional fighters were at or near their best. He’s jumped effortlessly through the weight-classes, and flown in the face of conventional wisdom by becoming stronger and more powerful with each leap – and he’s now the WBO Welterweight Champion. What’s more he’s done so with humility and grace in what is fast becoming a grace-less sport.

In the corresponding period Mayweather has boxed once, winning a wide decision over Marquez, and is currently title less. He has the names of Hatton and De La Hoya on his record, but was far less impressive than Pacquiao when he stopped the Englishman in ten rounds, and was only able to eke out a close, split decision over the Golden Boy. In terms of longevity Mayweather won his first world title in October 1998, just 6 months before Pacquiao annexed the WBC Flyweight Title.

Yes, Pacquiao has lost three times, and Mayweather remains undefeated. The first two defeats were in 1996 and 1999, both by third round stoppage, and both engineered by body blows at a time when the Philippine was struggling to make weight. Pundits and scribes (I‘m one of them) have been waiting ever since to see a weakness manifest itself around Pacquiao’s ribs – and we thought we’d see him exposed against fearsome body punchers like Hatton and Cotto, but they failed singularly to make any impression on the little Pinoy. His third loss was to the excellent Erik Morales, on points, and was avenged twice. Mayweather’s “0” has been impressively manufactured, but he’s not taken the risks that Pacquiao has, nor has he been as prolific (Pacquiao’s had 55 contests to Mayweather’s 40).

So, PBF’s claim to a better than 50/50 split doesn’t hold water. He’s not the more exciting fighter, and he’s not the better supported fighter, even in the United States. Within that impenetrable ego Mayweather is unable to accept that his success on pay-per-view has more to do with the constituency of his opponents than it has to do with the public’s need to see him fight, even if he is a special
talent. Meanwhile Pacquiao in the last year has built a consistent and knowledgeable world-wide following to go with the rabid, obsessive fan-base he enjoys in his native land. Should Mayweather and Pacquiao ever share a ring, 80% of fight-watchers will tune in the fervent hope that Manny can hand the American his first loss.

These are matters that Bob Arum and Mayweather Promotion will doubtless get around a table to discuss. There’s a huge pile of egos to be massaged in order to get the fight made, from Arum to Mayweather, Roach to Uncle Rog, HBO to Golden Boy, and a vast sum of money to be carved up. Ironically, whilst he’s nobody’s fool (as he demonstrated in the Hatton negotiations), it’s Manny Pacquiao who’s most comfortable in his own skin and most able to set his ego aside, but this time he shouldn’t have to.

It’s a fight the public wants and deserves, but I suspect there are too many hurdles to make it happen quickly. I can see a scenario where both camps reach an impasse and take other options – Pacquiao might take the opportunity to jump one more weight class and take on new light-middleweight champion Yuri Foreman for example – rather than back down.

For me, it’s a 50/50 split and let’s get it on.