With just under a month left until Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao go to battle, fans and members of the media are exploring every avenue in pursuit of an accurate prediction. One of the roads towards an educated guess is to compare shared opponents and how each fighter did against them.
Mayweather and Pacquiao have five opponents in common: Oscar De la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Shane Mosley. But of all five, there is only one bout on both resumes that tells you all you need to know about each fighter and what might likely happen come May 2.
In his bout with Ricky Hatton, Mayweather struggled in the very early rounds against the awkward Brit, who wrestled Floyd on the inside and worked to tangle up the slick counter-puncher. But soon Mayweather was out-wrestling Hatton and pushing off with elbows and forearms to create space.
Once at arm?s length, Mayweather gradually dominated Hatton with smart movement and razor-sharp counter punching.
A frustrated Hatton would begin to lose his calm and attempt to bull-rush his way back into the fight, but Mayweather was prepared for the raging ?Hitman.?
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Mayweather had been timing Hatton?s rushes for several rounds and eventually landed the perfect check hook in the tenth round that almost sent Hatton through the corner post and would eventually lead to the end of the bout.
Mayweather?s stoppage of Hatton was a cerebral victory and an example of his ability to slowly strip away an opponent?s greatest assets before assuming full control and taking the bout wherever he likes.
On the other hand, Manny Pacquiao?s brutal second round knockout of Hatton pretty much tells you that Manny, in the ring, is almost the exact opposite of Mayweather.
Entering the ring with boundless energy and frenetic movement, Pacquiao proved his dominance over Hatton just seconds into the bout. Buried in a whirlwind of offense-minded movement, Hatton was overwhelmed and it only took one deadly defensive error on his part to bring on what, at the time, was a career-ending knockout.
Pacquiao, at his best, is an offensive dynamo who keeps out of trouble because of his unpredictable offensive prowess. He bulldozes and shreds while Mayweather picks and scrapes.
Against one another, expect both fighters to try their best to be true to their own styles and mindsets.
Pacquiao will immediately impose his will on Mayweather and Mayweather, for his part, will try to use Manny?s own movement and aggression against him. The first four or five rounds will be key to determining the winner?and it will all come down to who is able to fight their particular fight.
If Mayweather is able to win the first third of the fight, or just stay even, without sustaining any real damage, he will likely cruise to a victory against a frustrated Pacquiao looking to make up lost ground.
But if Pacquiao can take those first rounds and/or hurt Mayweather at some point, he will have succeeded in forcing Mayweather to stand and fight to regain lost ground. If that happens, Pacquiao will win and maybe even stop Mayweather.
