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With the big fight being off, both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather find themselves scrambling to find opponents for March fight dates which neither have canceled or moved yet.
Initially there were Yuri Foreman and Paulie Malignaggi in place for Pacquiao. Manny was concerned with Foreman’s height though (5,11 to Manny’s 5,6) and substantial size advantage. Malignaggi is seemingly also being courted by Mayweather according to most recent reports, which seems to suggest his name is out of the running for Pacquiao. Interestingly this also probably puts Paul Williams out of a fight against Manny in the future as well, given that he’s even taller than Foreman.
The Mayweather clan deep in conversation (AP Photo)
The opponent Mayweather had originally tagged as a replacement, Matthew Hatton, is seemingly off the table as well. The reason probably being widespread ridicule and scorn for having considered such a low ranked opponent. Hatton being ranked around 33 in the world at welterweight and Floyd being number 2 or 3 on most lists.
Fellow Pacquiao accuser Paulie Malignaggi has now also been earmarked for a fight against Floyd. While Malignaggi is a top ten opponent, and is arguably even mouthier than Mayweather himself, making selling the fight easy, he is also a defensive minded boxer. While their styles aren’t the same, their intentions are often similar, except Floyd does it better. Malignaggi was battered and beaten by both Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton, although rebounded with an impressive win against Juan Diaz in his last fight. The first fight against Diaz was omitted intentionally because of some very shady judging.
What Mayweather needs more than just an opponent though is a marquee name to reestablish himself as one of the bets fighters in the world. Malignaggi, despite his skill, isn’t going to do that. The atmosphere before Mayweather’s showdown with the then undefeated Ricy Hatton was electric, so much so that a small army of several thousand British fans made the trip to Vegas just for that fight. Against Malignaggi, there isn’t much to get excited about for most fans, and the fight itself will probably be a real snoozer with Floyd landing more often to get the victory. Neither man is known for knockouts either, particularly against defensive boxers, so don’t expect anything but a defensive chess match.
Malignaggi may have his pick (AP Photo)
Pacquiao and Top Rank are still looking for an opponent reportedly now that both Malignaggi and Foreman are non starters. The name being mentioned a lot now appears to be none other than Joshua Clottey, who should be a fairly easy opponent for Manny to pick apart.
Clottey lost recently to an unfocused looking Miguel Cotto, and despite having an excellent chin and good defense, should prove easy pickings for Pac- man. Clottey’s biggest weakness has often been his speed and the fact that he drifts in and out of rounds.
Sometimes he appears to get unfocused, and doesn’t stay busy enough to win the rounds he needs. Against Pacquiao with an even greater than normal speed disadvantage, an easy decision victory will probably be going Manny’s way. Clottey has so far proven very difficult to stop, so whether Pacquiao will have enough power to do so will have to remain to be seen, although I wouldn’t count against it in the later rounds.
The March date itself is more important for Pacquiao than Mayweather because of the former’s political campaign. The May elections in the Philippines will essentially keep Manny out of boxing after March, so he has to either fight then or wait until the fall for his next fight. The scheduling of the fights is also a potential issue, with both having targeted March 13th for the date of their next respective fights. Both will also probably in Las Vegas, further adding to the intrigue as to which camp will back down and change dates.
It just might happen that both are stubborn enough to hold fights in the same town and the same day, which would prove interesting for the buy rates and crowds of either fight. Not to mention would prove which fighter is the bigger draw once and for all.
