Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Preview Saturday May 2, 2015

The time has finally come for the fight of fights, that we have all waited for, for 5 long tiresome years. We are getting Floyd “Money” Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. Maybe it’s not what it could have been 5 years ago, but this is still easily the biggest fight for a sport that has been struggling to keep itself above water for years.

This is the fight of fights.

We’ll start with the 47-0 Floyd Mayweather.

Pacquiao is the biggest test Mayweather has had in his career, without question. For many years, we have seen and heard Mayweather brag about being the best boxer in the world. Yet it seemed he was finding all kinds of reasons to not fight Manny. It appeared to me, that Floyd has been scared to fight Manny, possibly because Pacquiao isn’t a flat footed boxer, who is going to stand there and take his 2 punch combos to lose vs the scorecard.

I personally feel that Mayweather was dodging Pacquiao for a long time. I also think that he was very concerned about tarnishing that unblemished record. Using verbal assaults on Manny, back in 2010, with his famous tirade with “The little midget will cook sushi rolls and rice.” The made up accusations of Pacquiao taking PEDs was just another diversion from Floyd. In which, still, no substantial evidence to back up his claims. In some aspects, for years, Pacquiao took away Floyds spotlight as being the best fighter in the pound for pound rankings.

Mayweathers defense is incredibly elusive. It’s not just his speed, it is his in-ring IQ. He is a very smart counter puncher and has a great defensive style. Which can be very frustrating or very entertaining, depending on what side of the coin that you enjoy boxing. And Manny has had some struggles vs counter punchers in the past. Mayweather dips and dodges, and doesn’t like to take the risks and go for the the KO punch, he hits, counters, and dances around the ring. He uses great spacing and timing to predict opponents attacks. Mayweather is a fighter who avoids the oncoming attacks.

Granted, Floyds basic gameplan, is pretty standard. His main objective is to tag his opponent a few times and not get hit. His attack will be the same, not stand in front of Manny like it’s a drunken bar fight, dodge and try to win the fight after 12 rounds, with the scorecards and winning the points. The key is, to be patient, not fall into the trap of just chasing Floyd all over the ring, getting himself to the point where he ends up forgetting the game plan. And if that’s the case, it ends up as the same business as we have seen for so many fights before. But, Floyd had better know, in order to beat Pacquiao he better be ready to buck up and get in there. Because he is going to have to get his hands dirty.

Then we have Manny Pacquiaoand his 38 KOs, and a 57-5-2 record.

I think the majority of fans are waiting to cheer him on, hoping that he lays a beat down on “Money” and finally silence his ever running, boastful mouth. We all are holding on, and waiting to see if Manny can stop the Mayweather madness that has taken over the boxing world for so many years.

Manny has become a fighter for his country. And I think that with him fighting for his country could be one of the biggest factors for him in this fight because he knows how important it is. So he isn’t just fighting for himself, and his personal disdain for Mayweather, but he is willingly shouldering for his countrymen as well. I also find it a real motivational push for Manny that he comes into the fight as the underdog. And an interesting fact is, every time Pacquiao wasn’t favored to win his fight, he has blasted and KO’ed his opponent, and showed the world who he is.

The high majority of Manny’s fights are TKO’s because of the brutal onslaught and volume of punches. That is not something that fighters like to deal with, a power punching machine, who does not slow down. At this time, Manny is the one. He is the only guy that the people want to see beat Mayweather but he hasn’t had a knockout in 6 years. There are no other boxers out there, first, who can beat Floyd. But secondly, feed that hunger that we have to see take down the undefeated record that Floyd has carried around.

I love that special big fight feeling leading up to that big night. And truthfully, the sport of boxing is the bigger picture here. People all over are actually talking boxing again. And these 2 fighters have felt the heat of the boxing public for the last 5 years.

This fight is going to be the Tyson/Holyfield of this generation. Regardless as to who you are pulling for. This is the blockbuster event and people can’t get enough of the spectacle coming with it.

Floyd will not risk coming forward and into the fists of Pacquiao. Regardless, even with Floyd throwing his counter punches, Pacquiao will still be walking through them to land a power combination of his own. Keep in mind, that in order for the defensive style to actually work vs Pacquiao, Mayweather will have to be dodging everything that is thrown his way, and countering everything for the full 12 rounds. Let’s be honest, Pacquiao’s stamina and endurance has always been excellent. He will not fade down the stretch, as Floyd dances around, it just will not happen.

Floyd has to be more offensive in this fight, to stand a chance, in this fight. Floyd needs a KO of some sort to win, or he has to dominate every single round with not a shadow of doubt which I seriously doubt is going to happen.

Pacquiao will be able to bully Floyd, pushing him and putting him off the ropes and pound away. Floyd will not be able to keep Pacquiao off him enough to win this fight. Pacquiao will overwhelm him with punches, Manny Pacquiao wins by 8th round TKO and as I +220 underdog we’ll go with the underdog here and great value.

The streak ends at 47-1.