Mayweather vs Pacquiao: Now that the fight is on, who wins?
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February 21, 2015
Promoter Bob Arum is giving Manny Pacquiao a big chance against Floyd Mayweather due to his style and stance.
Manny Pacquiao has suffered a pair of losses — one controversial, one definitive — in recent years, but the Hall of Fame-bound fighter has also stormed back with three dominant performances since then, and promoter Bob Arum believes that Manny has a great shot when he faces Floyd Mayweather on May 2.
Arum cites his own experience working as Mayweather’s promoter, and the long-held belief that Mayweather has problems with lefties — particularly those with speed.
“The reason I like my guy’s chances so much is because of his speed, the tremendous number of punches he throws, the quality of his punches and the fact that he is left-handed. Top Rank promoted Floyd Mayweather for 10½ years and we recognized that he had difficulty handling a speedy, left-handed fighter and that he and his father (and trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr.) were insistent that we not match Floyd with a southpaw. I remember two fights he had with southpaws who didn’t have the ability Mann has but who gave him trouble — (DeMarcus) ‘Chop Chop’ Corley, who buzzed him and had him in real trouble and Zab Judah.”
The Corley fight was in 2004, and the Judah fight in 2006, so we’re talking a decade since either of those bouts, give or take a year either way. Mayweather (47-0, 26 KO) has fought a pair of southpaws since the win over Judah, knocking out Victor Ortiz in 2011 and dominating Robert Guerrero in 2013.
Of course, nobody is going to argue that Ortiz or Guerrero are on the level of Manny Pacquiao, and Arum is right on the button noting that the differences are really speed and workrate, plus Pacquiao is a master of controlling the distance he wants.
Do you think Pacquiao’s style presents serious problems for Mayweather, the sort of thing he’s perhaps tried to avoid over his career?
