Sunday, December 28, 2014

Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Fight Predictions: Who Will Win?


Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.

The two best and most popular Welterweight boxers today. The fight that just doesn't seem to be making much progress past various social media platforms.
Well, whether the fight happens or not, we're going to breakdown the fighters from top to bottom and let you predict who could win a potential fight in 2015:
Floyd Mayweather (47-0)
With Mayweather, the record speaks for itself. Since his first professional bout in 1996, Mayweather hasn't lost a single match. Mayweather is the WBA Welterweight Champion of the world, and he hasn't even tied once in his career.
Mayweather's biggest attribute is his speed. It's incredibly hard to land a knockout blow to Mayweather because he ducks and dodges so many jabs throughout the fight. Mayweather won't knock out his opponents very often, but his punching percentage is almost always significantly higher because his challenger misses so many attempts.


Mayweather also has good endurance.

The weaknesses in Mayweather in this match would be age, power and competition. Mayweather may very well be 47-0, but spending 2014 facing Marcos Maidana twice didn't impress anybody. Maidana isn't Pacquiao, and if Mayweather were to face Pacquiao, he has a lot of work to do.
As Keith Thurman and other boxers have said about Mayweather, he lacks power. Mayweather is more of a technical boxer, having just one knockout since 2008. That was the infamous Victor Ortiz handshake match in 2011. Mayweather is also 22 months older that Pacquiao.
Regardless of age or power, Mayweather would be the favorite in this more than $300 million fight because of his record. The only question now is: How bad does Mayweather want Pacquiao?
Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2)

The No. 2 ranked boxer in the Welterweight division has made it loud and clear: He wants Mayweather in 2015.

Manny Pacquiao's victory over previously undefeated Chris Algieri was very impressive. With that win, Pacquiao retained his WBO Welterweight Championship, and got his 57th career professional victory.
With Mayweather being the highest rated boxer in the world and ranked No. 1, he controls most of the demands and financial splits. But, let's not dismiss what Pacquiao has accomplished in the ring. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for his performances from 2000 to 2009 and has three times been named "Fighter of the Year." Mayweather has been named "Fighter of the Year" twice.

While Mayweather holds the edge in speed and athleticism, Pacquiao has an advantage in power and age. Another factor to remember is Pacquiao is a southpaw. Many boxers and trainers fear fighting southpaw stances because it is very rare. (Remember Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa?) Boxing promoter Bob Arum has said time and time again that Mayweather is "scared" of Pacquiao because he doesn't want to fight notable left-handed fighters.

Pacquiao doesn't have an unblemished record, but his loss to Timothy Bradley was certainly a controversial one. There are other great boxers with blemishes, too: Muhammad Ali had five losses, George Foreman had five defeats and Joe Frazier had four. Pacquiao is willing to face Mayweather regardless of size or record, having no fear whatsoever.

Verdict

Both fighters offer a unique skill set, just in different ways. It's unfortunate we couldn't see these two face off their prime, but that's in the past. Mayweather's reach advantage would give Pacquiao some problems, but Pacquiao has great speed himself. In the end, there's a good chance this fight goes the distance, all 12 rounds without a knockout.

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