Manny Pacquiao demonstrated once again why he is the best fighter of his generation. It is not even close either. No fighter of this generation has destroyed and beaten as many future Hall of Famers as Pacquiao. The list of names like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya…Need I go on. Now as the hype begins to build for a mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. I have to ask myself the question, will it be a great fight? Yeah we all know it will do a lot of business. But as a fan, I don’t care how much business a fight can do, I care how much excitment the fight can bring. 3 things come to mind. 1. Manny will already go down as one of the 5, 10 or 15 greatest fighters who ever lived. He doesn’t need Mayweather, Mayweather needs him. 2. When has Floyd Mayweather Jr. ever been in a good fight? 3. Will Mayweather allow for it to be a classic fight?
Styles
Manny Pacquiao is the most thrilling athlete in all of sports. There is nothing better then watching him fight. I would rather watch him then Lebron James dropping 55 on the Knicks. I would rather watch him then Peyton Manning carving up the New England Patriots Secondary, and I would rather watch him then Tiger Woods on Sunday with the lead in a Major. He has the most explosive style of any fighter since Mike Tyson, minus the out of the ring Tyson meltdowns.
The same can’t be said of Floyd Mayweather Jr. While I appreciate his craftsmanship and skill. I think of him as a successful used car dealer. He has been making money for years selling people junk, but he still gets away with it because he is the best salesman around. Make no mistake, Floyd Mayweather is a Hall of Famer, and one of the best fighters of his generation. But he is neither thrilling and or dynamic. He would have not carved up Miguel Cotto like Manny Pacquiao did last Saturday. He would have been content boxing and pecking his way to a decision win, and afterward talk about how great he was and how much money he made.
For all Mayweather’s brilliance he has never been in a fight where that would be considered a fan friendly fight, much less any that had fight of the year consideration. In the era of the 360 dunk, the ESPN Sportscenter highlights, and the long ball. Most of Mayweather’s shut-out wins have come up short in the era. Either because they were too boring or too easy. Some would say don’t blame Floyd, but when you are an entertainer and you don’t close the show you come up short.
Scribes and fans are all clamouring for it, but I don’t really believe they know what they are getting. Pairing 2 great fighters doesn’t always make a great fight. Will it be Ali-Frazier, or will it be Leonard-Hearns? The problem is with those great fights, both guys brought it, and in this fight only one guy will.
Will it be a Good Fight
It will only be a good fight if Manny can find a way to hurt Floyd or at least engage him. Now if anybody can do it, Manny can. But I just see this fight turning into a stinker with Floyd content on boxing from the outside with Manny being the aggressor. The result of something like that would be a close and controversial decision, something boxing doesn’t need. In the end, be careful what you wish for. Floyd and Manny will do 3 million buys, but if the fight isn’t any good, it won’t help anybody(Except the participants pocket books) least of all boxing. I much rather see a Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight that does less buys but offers more bang for the buck. Mosley is a future hall of famer just like Mayweather. (Mosley though will have his hands full in January with Andre Berto)At least I know Shane would bring it, and we all know what the Pacman brings.
