Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacqiuao @ 130-135

[blackbelt2003]

I think Floyd would have been forced into making it a fight. The way to beat Floyd is either to be tall and rangy with a great jab or with raiding tactics - in and out and in and out. Stay in too long and he times those perfect counters. That’s the mistake guys like Hatton made - they stayed in too long. Manny, when disciplined, has that perfect blend of aggression and movement. He would have missed a lot but he would have been the only one throwing early on. Later in the fight Floyd would have had to walk him down and go forwards (something 130 and 135 Floyd did more frequently). That’s when the fight would have broken out and in a dogfight give me Manny.


Black

[and the NEW]

(01-02-2018 02:55 PM)blackbelt2003 Wrote:  Floyd rarely punches when his opponent does, which is why he’s always struggled more with high volume fighters.

Prime Pac would have darted in and out with bursts of punches non stop all night. Floyd would have let him finish his little flurry and then thrown a counter...but Pac would already have been back out of range again and ready to start the next little assault.

This would have gone on all night until Floyd switched up game plans and went forwards, like he did when Zab was frustrating him. This is when prime Pac would have started laying hurt on him.

I’m not saying it’s a one way street, seeing as Floyd is a master strategist and mid fight tactician...but prime Pac was all wrong for Floyd, stylistically and attribute-wise.

Black

But Pac wouldn't have been able to dart in and out all night. Floyd has quick feet at 130-135 (Pac would have darted in, and Floyd wouldn't have been there), and he would have been timing wicked right hands down the pipe that would have been landing clean given his superior timing and range.

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(01-02-2018 05:50 AM)ViperSniper Wrote:  If anyone laid the blueprint it was Morales who needed just the first fight to get the job done..not 4 times. Also big difference with Marquez & Mayweather other than Mayweather being longer and sharper, they're very different fighters.
Marquez wasn't afraid to throw with his opponents and fight which is how he was able to tag and finally find a KO in his 4th attempt.

Other than the first round, Marquez schooled Pac in that first fight. The other 11 rounds were probably his best set of rounds in any of the fights.

Agree on Marquez being a different counter puncher. But Pac never faced a slick mover and shaker like Floyd that was also sharper than anybody else he fought and used his length and feet to his advantage. Even the boxers that Pac beat didn't have quick feet (Mexicans like Barrera and Morales). The guy with length that he beat up on didn't know how to use that length, like Margarito.

This fight isn't a great stylistic matchup for either guy. I only give it to Floyd given he was the naturally bigger guy, which I thought after a round of their fight was very clearly going to give him a huge advantage, you could just see he was comfortable with controlling the range as soon as they squared off because of his attributes.

[Dickagon]

Floyd didnt make it a fight against Maidana.

It would have been nice to see them fight in their primes but in retrospect the biggest advantage I ever gave Pac was the mental advantage. Floyd never seemed like he wanted the fight. Everytime he talked about Pac it's how he had to be on something and how he ran through guys. If Pac made it a tough fight I think Floyd would have mentally just decided to make it a low risk fight. Both looked good against guys playing into their strengths at 147 and 154 but none of their opponents really translated to how they would do against eachother.

[JONdaCON]

Imagine a Pac vs Canelo fight at 152-154 in 2013-2014.

Yeesh.

[blackbelt2003]

Floyd rarely ever hit anyone with shots as they came forward. He started using that wicked check hook later on in his career but never with a straight right.

He would use that laser guided straight right AFTER the opponent threw punches. He used to love slipping a few shots and coming back with it...or stepping into range and throwing it from the outside. But I rarely saw Floyd time it as someone came into him.



Black

[ViperSniper]

It would have been a good fight at 130-135.

Floyd did have much better mobility back in those days but Manny came foward much more constantly with much more punches back then also. Manny's defence was his offense moreso back then.

Manny wasn't as selective with his shots at Lightweight and didn't dart in & out as much as he did at 140-154. At the lighter weights he would dart in and attack without darting out as much.

Despite Floyd's movement being better, Manny would have forced Floyd to eventually fight back or crumble under the Pac attack.

Manny may have not faced many long fighters but Floyd has had trouble with fighters that had similar traits or threats to Manny. Alot of the fighters that had success on Floyd applied pressure like Castillo, De La Hoya, Cotto & Maidana. Also fighters who had speed or were southpaws like Chop Chop or Judah.

Similar reason why Floyd ducked Margarito all those years because like Pac, both had the workrate to potentially overwhelm Mayweather along with other things.

I'm not sure if Floyd gets stopped here but feel he loses on the cards by getting outworked and being tagged with bigger shot from Pacqiuao.

[Dickagon]

Jon, that was Canelo's mw fighting weight. Respect his division.

[blackbelt2003]

Yeah, Pac wasn’t ranked at super junior middle so the fight coildnt happen. Pac won the world super junior lightweight title against Cotto. There’s two divisions between for chrissakes!


Black

[JONdaCON]

Blk... he fought Margs at 150.

It would have been interesting to see if Pac could've popped in and out and outboxed Canelo like he did Margs.. or if Canelo would be big and strong enough to keep Manny honest and at bay...

[blackbelt2003]

I was being sarcastic bro, based on both men’s insistence on catchweights.


Black