No fighter has ever challenged Manny Pacquiao like Floyd Mayweather Jr has. The ironic thing to all of this, is the fact that Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao have never stepped foot in a ring to yet to fight each other.
Yet, no fight has captured the boxing world quite like the potential showdown between boxing’s greatest offense and boxing’s greatest defense. But, does all of the public attacks and mega-hype equate to Floyd becoming Manny’s greatest rival? Let’s examiner further. Floyd Mayweather Jr No fighter has ever been more critical of Manny Pacquiao than Floyd Jr. The public onslaught against Manny from all of the Mayweathers is unprecedented. It’s been a public witch hunt based on false accusations by the Mayweathers. I believe it was Floyd Sr who initially stated that Manny was taking some kind of PED and the rest is history. Everyone from Uncle Roger to Oscar De La Hoya jumped on the express train to defamation city. Even after the fight fell through, Floyd Jr and his family continued to attack Pacquiao through the media. Week after week, they said he’s scared to take the tests; he’s hiding something; he must be on something illegal. This public attack is enough to frustrate any human being. So, it’s no surprise that all of this got to the humbled and mellow Manny. Freddie Roach once said that he’s never seen Manny angrier than when it comes to Floyd Mayweather Jr and I can believe that. Fast forward to the second round of negotiations and Manny starts making compromises but Floyd is not to be heard. Instead, Floyd is out bowling. Then Floyd says he wants a larger share of the fight purse; before he strolls back into his silent world. Floyd’s mind games have been unparalleled in the course of Manny’s career. But does all of this equate to Floyd Mayweather Jr being Manny Pacquiao’s greatest rival? In my opinion, I think Floyd Jr ranks 3rd behind the following two men.
Juan Manuel Marquez The fights between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez were definitely exciting and controversially close. Marquez arguably matches up better with Manny than any other fighter before or since. There are numerous similarities between the two like styles, speed, and size. The 1st Fight Pacquiao and Marquez first fought on May,8, 2004. They met at the 125 pound mark and fought for Marquez’s WBA strap. Pacquiao put Juan on the canvas 3 times in the first round. To Marquez’s credit, he was able to get back up and finish the fight. The fight ended in a draw as 1 judge had it 115-110 for Pacquiao, the 2nd judge had it 115-110 for Marquez and the 3rd judge had it 113-113. Marquez threw 547 punches to Pacquiao’s 639 but landed 10 more punches than the Pacman with 158.
The 2nd Fight Pacquiao and Marquez would meet again in March of 2008 at 130 pounds. The fight was for Marquez’s WBC super featherweight strap. Pacquiao won by split decision (115-112, 112-115, 114-113). Most boxing critics supposedly felt Marquez won the fight as he dominated Pacquiao in the second round despite being knocked down in the third round. Marquez landed more punches (172 to 157) despite throwing over 100 less punches than Pacquiao (511-619).
The closeness of these fights is why Juan Manuel Marquez believes Manny Pacquiao is scared. In a recent interview with Boxing Fanhouse, JMM had the following to say about the Pacquiao:
“I badly want the fight with Pacquiao, but he doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want to fight with me again. That’s because everybody watching the two fights with Manny knows that I won. The first fight, they called it a draw. In the second fight, it was a split-decision. I think that I won the two fights. I don’t know what happened with the judges with the second fight and the split-decision. Everybody watched, and everybody saw that I won the fight.” Despite the close fights and the controversial finishes, Juan only ranks 2nd on my list of Pacquiao’s greatest rival. Check out page 3 for who I think the greatest rival of Manny Pacquiao.
