On May 2, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will go toe-to-toe and finally give fight fans what they’ve been wanting for about a decade. But rather than calling this the “Pacquiao-Mayweather megafight” as some media outlets are doing, I’m going to be the one with the stones to call this fight what it actually is.
Twelve rounds of boredom for the welterweight championship.
Why?
Look to the styles.
In 2008, this matchup would have been absolutely riveting. Mayweather would have spent the fight trying to run from a fighter, who was his speed-equal and considerably more powerful. He would have probably gotten caught and floored at some point, and seven years later, he wouldn’t be allowed to run around hocking this “greatest of all time” myth he loves to perpetuate.
But, unfortunately, this is not 2008. It’s 2015, and a style like Pacquiao’s, wherein you actually enter a boxing ring to, you know, fight, doesn’t allow you to age as gracefully as Mayweather’s track-star technique. These days, Pacquiao is slower and more careless, as evidenced by his back-to-back losses against Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez.
To be fair, Bradley never came close to beating Pacquiao, and he was gifted a decision in one of the biggest screw jobs in boxing history. Nevertheless, he was so out of Pacquiao’s league — the old Pacquiao — that he should have been staring up at his eyelids halfway through the fight.
While Pacquiao went on to avenge the Bradley loss with a lop-sided snoozefest decision, he was crushed and almost forced into retirement with a brutal sixth-round knockout at the hands of longtime rival Marquez.
Going from this and the fact that he seems to have lost his punching power, it’s clear he can’t keep pace with Mayweather, and as a result, the fight is going to end in a unanimous decision.
Neither fighter will come close to eating canvas.
And fight fans dumb enough to expect something more and spend their hard-earned $110 ( or whatever it will end up costing ) are going to try and convince themselves it wasn’t as bad as it really was, so they don’t feel stupid for buying it.
Expect Floyd to effortlessly dodge Pacquiao’s attacks for 12 rounds and land the occasional pitter-patter fly bite that has no effect whatsoever. Judges will see this and be forced to score it for Floyd Mayweather.
But that’s my take. How do you think Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will turn out? Will you spend $110 if that ends up being the final asking price?