What the world has long been waiting for has arrived, the Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao fight, which is sure to be the richest ever in boxing history.
The announcement of the welterweight war finally happening on May 2 in Las Vegas ended the wait of fans around the world who have clamored to make it happen.
But more importantly for fans, this much-awaited megafight will finally answer the question as to which of the two is the best pound-for-pound fighter of their generation.
In fact, upon the confirmation of Mayweather last Saturday that their showdown will finally push through, Pacquiao was already in his hometown in General Santos City wasting no time and quickly starting his rigorous eight-week training for the fight that was almost six years in the making but will now almost surely break every financial record, and make both boxers richer than ever.
Being still undefeated in 47 matches, the 38-year-old Mayweather is tagged by boxing pundits as the favorite over Pacquiao. Mayweather is also homing in on the iconic 49-0 record of 1950s legend Rocky Marciano, who retired as an undefeated heavyweight champion.
By contrast, the 36-year-old Pacquiao has 57 victories and five defeats – including two suffered as recently as 2012. He has, however, won three fights in a row, including a unanimous decision over Chris Aligieri in Macao last November, since being knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in his fourth bout against the Mexican.
And just looking at the tale of the tape, Mayweather is indeed the man to beat despite drawing flak in the past for dodging the Filipino ring icon to protect his immaculate record.
Mayweather is taller and has a longer reach than the fighting congressman from southern Philippines.
For his part, Pacquiao said he would embrace the underdog billing and would train very hard to deal Mayweather his first ever defeat.
Pacquiao likes to be in the underdog position. The eight-division world champion thrives on that kind of pressure as it gives extra motivation for him to win. Remember when he beat the taller and more experienced Oscar dela Hoya via technical knockout in 2008, Pacquiao was then the underdog.
Now he will again play that role and boxing experts are unanimous in saying that he stands as the best fighter who could make Mayweather realize how it feels to be beaten, and be beaten up badly, for the first time in his remarkable career.
Mayweather may have dispatched all of his past opponents, but he has not fought anyone with speed, power and aggressiveness of Pacquiao.
But for Pacquiao to be at his best in what could well be his toughest fight, he must find renewed focus on boxing. Remember he has several other duties outside the ring, so he really has plenty of baggage to shed.
Pacquiao has also made a fortune as a commercial pitchman, dabbled in television, movies and music, and leveraged his boxing fame to get elected to Congress in 2010. Today he is in basketball being player-coach of a newly-created team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
All of that, however, will have to be put aside for the Mayweather fight, including fans distractions during training.
Of course, the fight would have been much more explosive had it happened four or six years ago, when both men were younger.
But regardless of perceptions of both fighters’ chances, the fight will definitely define the legacy of the two of the generation’s best ring warriors in the sport’s history.
