8CN?s David Hopper spoke with Showtime analyst Steve Farhood and got his thoughts on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao megafight. Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) and Pacquiao (57-5, 38 KOs) will fight May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The welterweight world championship unification bout will be televised on pay-per-view, produced and distributed jointly by Showtime and HBO.
DH: Floyd Mayweather told you live on Showtime in December that he would ?love to fight Manny Pacquiao.? What was your initial reaction to Mayweather?s comments? And do you feel that was a turning point in the fight being made?
SF: I do think that was somewhat of a turning point. Floyd was putting himself out on a limb and saying ?I want this fight.? That?s something he had never really publicly stated before. I think by saying what he said he set himself up for a big fall if the fight didn?t happen. It would have been viewed more as his fault. The only thing left to do is negotiate the fight. I wasn?t shocked that he did it because I saw him earlier that night and he said ?I?m gonna give you something good tonight.? Of course, I said, ?What can he be talking about?? He?s not going to be talking about one of his fighters. I knew he had something hot to talk about and I had a feeling it was something to do with Pacquiao.
DH: I first interviewed you back in summer 2010. That was around the time fans were first talking about a Mayweather-Pacquiao matchup. You told me then that you favored Mayweather to win, believing Mayweather would make use of his superior skills and outbox Pacquiao. Here we are five years later and the fight has finally been made. Do you still favor Mayweather to win?
SF: I think Floyd is the favorite to win. I don?t know if they?re that diminished in the five years as when the fight was first talked about. First of all, history will tell you that some of the greatest fights in history, including the greatest fight in history, for me, Ali Fraizier III was fought between two fighters who were a little bit passed their prime. Mayweather is No. 1 in the world and undefeated and No. 1 on every pound-for-pound list, and Pacquiao, at worst, is No. 3 or 4 on pound-for-pound lists. Manny isn?t knocking people out as much anymore. The fight is at 147 pounds. That might give Mayweather a slight edge. I think you have to make Mayweather the favorite. I don?t think that much has changed. Clearly Pacquiao has a skill set that Floyd has not faced too often in his entire career, not just as a welterweight champ. That?s one of the reasons that people are excited for this fight. You make Floyd the favorite, but Pacquiao is obviously dangerous.
DH: Based on their recent fights, who do you think has slipped more between Manny and Floyd? Or do you think there hasn?t been much signs of them slowing down?
SF: If Manny was fighting Floyd off the first Floyd-[Marcos] Maidana fight I would say there?s obvious signs that Floyd has slowed down. He got hit more in this fight than any other fight in his career. But, given what he did in the second Maidana fight, looked to me that he still had his legs, looked like he still had his reflexes. As far as Manny goes, he doesn?t have the knockouts, but he knocked [Chris] Algieri down a bunch of times. And since that disastrous knockout loss to [Juan Manuel] Marquez, Manny has put together some pretty good performances. Not against anyone at Floyd?s level, but then again, who is at Floyd?s level? And the other thing to think about, from a fan?s perspective, if they are diminished a little bit, how will that show? It will show in a little bit less speed and a little bit less reflexes. That tends to make for a better fight.
DH: Based on the style matchup, what type of fight do you predict we?ll see?
SF: It?s clear that it?s up to Pacquiao to make the fight. What I mean by that is to set the pace. He wants a faster pace than Floyd. Floyd is very happy to win rounds, not get hit, and fight at a slower pace. We know from CompuBox punch numbers that Floyd is never very busy, and he minimizes his opponent?s punches. That?s what Floyd wants. He wants a tactical match where his superior boxing abilities, defense, and reflexes will take over. And Manny?s job is to not necessarily hurt Floyd, because that might be asking too much, but to set a pace that Floyd will be uncomfortable with and set a geography of the ring that Floyd will be uncomfortable with. By using his speed to get close, and when he gets close, to be physical. That?s not necessarily Manny?s style. He?s not an infighter to speak. The people who?ve had the most success against Mayweather have pushed him around, whether it be [Oscar] De La Hoya, he pushed him into the ropes, Maidana pushed him around. You have to fight him because that way you?re taking away his best assets. Manny has to be aggressive and when he gets close he has to let his hands go.
DH: Let?s say Pacquaio is able to do those things. He?s aggressive, he cuts off the ring and puts Mayweather against the ropes. If you were in Mayweather?s corner, what would you tell Mayweather to do?
SF: There?s a chance that Manny is going to be so fast, and Floyd hasn?t seen that before, at least not in a while. Floyd has to do what Floyd does, which is counterpunch. Manny is going to give him an opportunity to counterpunch in this fight. Floyd?s best punch, although he?s a very good body puncher, is his counter right hand. That?s what he?s looking for. Right hands land against southpaws. That?s what Marquez knocked out Pacquiao with. I think timing the counter right hand, trying to get Manny to reach a little bit and land the right hand. That would be Manny?s best bet.
DH: Millions and millions of people will watch this fight, including many who don?t ever watch boxing. If Mayweather-Pacquaio turns out to be very exciting what do you think it could do for boxing? Do you think it could bring more fans to the sport? Or do you think the casual fans will continue to only tune in to one or two big fights a year?
SF: I think it could have a real impact, as long as it?s a decent fight. If it?s a stinker, then obviously that?s not a positive. More importantly, the fight is not in a vacuum. The fight is at a time where boxing is returning to network television. NBC is doing fights on primetime. CBS is doing fights. This is all related I think. It gives boxing its best chance to draw a new audience. The demographics of boxing are not great. The average fan is in his 50s, if not early 60s. You have to find a way to attract young fans. There are a lot of casual sports fans who never watch boxing who are going to watch this fight. If they see it and they like it they?re going to be interested and start watching fights on HBO and Showtime. They?ll see that NBC is doing fights and CBS is doing fights. That?s free TV. If you combine the two factors that are happening right now, it?s gonna have a very big effect on boxing. Let?s face it, Manny and Floyd are known to every sports fan. And there aren?t very many other boxers who are known to the casual sports fan. This is absolutely huge.
DH: As a boxing historian, you are knowledgeable of all the biggest fights throughout the sport?s long history. Mayweather-Pacquaio is expected to crush all the PPV records. Is this the biggest fight of all time in terms of its appeal? How do you think it will rank with the all-time biggest fights, such as Louis-Schmeling, Ali-Frazier and Leonard-Hagler?
SF: That?s an interesting question and one I?m sure I?ll be asked a lot in the next couple months. It?s a different era. You have to measure fights within the era that they take place in. Ali-Frazier I, there?s never going to be a sporting event, much less a fight, like that again. That was 1971. When you combine all the factors that made that fight go, including the fact they were heavyweights and undefeated and everything else, there will never be another fight like that. This is going to shatter all economic records, of course. In terms of significance, when you think of a fight like [Joe] Louis-[Max] Schmeling 2, or a fight like [Jack] Johnson-[James] Jeffries, those fights had political and social ramifications that this fight doesn?t have. But this is a huge fight. To me, this harkens memories of the great fights of the early ?80s. I use the term ?when the world stopped.? Leonard-Hagler, Leonard-Hearns, those fights made the world stop. Given the time that this fight is taking place, I think it?s as big as it could be.
DH: What do you think a win over Pacquiao would do for Mayweather?s resume? Would it cement his legacy as the greatest fighter of his generation? If Pacquaio won, what would it do for Pacquiao?s legacy?
SF: That?s a great question. I said this on ShoBox Friday night, they were already all-time greats in my view, so it?s not like they?re fighting to become all-time greats. Is Floyd fighting to become the greatest fighter of his era? Yeah, I think that?s very fair to say. If he loses, he?s still an all-time great and was the No. 1 pound-for-pound guy for a long time, but it takes a little bit of weight to lose to Manny. If Manny loses, because Manny has lost along the way, it?s a little different. Floyd?s got that zero. That?s a large part of his self-confidence and his self-belief in his place in history. If he loses it, it?s not the worst thing in the world because look at who he?s losing to. If Manny loses it?s a little different, I think. It?s maybe a little bit less significant if Manny loses. There are gonna be writers and media who are gonna write that whoever loses is past his prime. Ultimately, I don?t think these guys are fighting for all-time greatness, I think they?ve already established it. But their names, had they not fought, would have been forever linked as the guy the other one didn?t fight. That?s why, from their perspective, I think that?s why this fight is so important.
