Tonight on FOX pay-per-view from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao is back again, continuing his legendary career in a high stakes fight against the undefeated Keith Thurman.
How do the fighters match up on paper? Let?s look at some of the numbers.
Quick note: the ?record in title fights? thing is a bit deceiving, perhaps, or at least arguably not fully accurate. I didn?t count Pacquiao?s last two fights against Lucas Matthysse and Adrien Broner, which I could have and normally might, I guess. But also, that record excludes a lot of Pacquiao?s biggest fights, which weren?t for officially recognized world titles from the four major sanctioning bodies, including his bouts with Marco Antonio Barrera (2003 and 2007), Erik Morales (2005 and twice in 2006), Oscar De La Hoya (2008), Ricky Hatton (2009), and Juan Manuel Marquez (2011).
So long story short you could frame it another way but I didn?t, and, well, that?s the long and the short of it. Thurman had ?interim? title fights which were every bit as legit as a lot of title fights, too, for what it?s worth. But either way the result is clear when you match it up: Pacquiao has an enormous wealth of experience in world title level matchups.
They key numbers, as I?ve repeated this week, are 40 and 30, the ages of the fighters. Pacquiao is still without question a good fighter, universally seen as no worse than top five at welterweight, which you may have heard is a pretty good division.
Power-wise, since that?s what a lot of people care most about, Pacquiao has long been considered mostly an effective if not devastating puncher at 147. He still has terrific speed and puts together great combinations, and his awkward southpaw style can be tricky, but he?s generally not enormously powerful at the weight. Obviously you don?t want to get hit clean by him too many times, but that pretty much goes without saying.
At the same time, Thurman?s once-vaunted power has also come into question as he?s stepped up the competition. His last stoppage win came in 2015, when he put Luis Collazo away after seven rounds. Against his better or even trickier opponents, he?s gone the 12-round distance against Leonard Bundu, Robert Guerrero, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, and Josesito Lopez.
As for their recent outings, Pacquiao thrashed a past-prime Lucas Matthysse about a year ago in Kuala Lumpur, and statistically dominated a past-caring Adrien Broner in January, while Thurman?s fought just once in the last two years, his January win over Lopez, and Josesito had him in some legitimate trouble in that fight. Thurman was on his bike for real, but did deserve the decision win.
The matchup is potentially very interesting. Both are considered very good fighters, but both have questions, Pacquiao due to age, Thurman due to injuries and inactivity.
