YES! and Floyd knew it. Floyd never fights opponents when they are in their prime. Floyd was scared sh!tless of Pac. Now that fight is worthless.
I'll keep this simple for you. FMJ vs Zab Judah. Only Zab won't be intimidated, has faster foot and handspeed, has a more powerful left, has a more powerful right hook to counter those lunging right jabs with, has better angles that until now only JMM has solved, will go in and out then in again in a rhythm that you can't easily time all the while throwing quick combinations, and will keep doing all these for the full 12 rounds. You can't seriously say that a person with those attributes "won't stand a chance" against Floyd when Zab won several rounds and even knocked him down. FMJ himself admitted to it by all the "my health comes first" rants. He was essentially saying that "this man is gonna hit me and he is gonna hit me hard".
At one point I favoured Pacquiao in this fight. I think it was when Floyd and Manny were arguing over the testing issue, where I agreed with Floyd because I was suspicious about PacMan hammering much bigger men. Later on I thought Floyd would school Pac, based on the way Floyd handled Marquez. Now I think Floyd would win, but I still think Pacquiao gives him the best fight out there due to styles making fights. When I watch Pacquiao I think "how is he landing that left hand?" because it seems so basic. But he keeps landing it! I really think Pacs style could trouble Floyd. I just wish they had fought when everyone wanted them to if only to remove all doubt. Imagine if Ali and Frazier had never fought; people would be saying Joe stood no chance and Ali would box his head off! Damn shame we never saw the FM vs Pacqiuao fight when they were at their best.
The 2009 Pacquiao that annilhated Cotto would without doubt have had the best chance of any boxer of Mayweather's generation. What is difficult is ascertaining whether this subjective point translates into a good chance, objectively, of beating him. This is difficult for a number of reasons, most prominantly, because I don't believe we actually know how good Mayweather is. This may seem a controversial statement, especially in light of the fact he has produced masterpiece after masterpiece however he has never faced a fighter who brings to the table what a 2009 Pacquiao would have done. Floyd has a habit of catching great fighters on the way down (ODLH and Mosley being prime examples). The finger must be pointed at him for this. With the amount of money he brings to fights it would be fatuous to suggest that these fights not being made earlier has been out of his hands- if he had wanted them, he could have had them. In fact, Canelo aside, the last prime and dangerous opponent Floyd fought was arguably Hatton. It is hard to find a way to beat perfection, but Floyd has, on occasion shown weakness. Castillo, Oscar, Hatton, Mosley and Cotto all had him bothered (and in a couple of those examples, even more) at some point in their fights, so to suggest he is completely unassailable is wrong. What is crucial to beating him is to find somebody who embodies those values and moreover, can sustain it over twelve rounds without getting figured out and systematically dismantled (like everyone else!). I recall, in 2009/10, a number of trainers, boxers, analysts and the rest talking about Pacquiao as one of the best (and most overwhelming) examples of offense seen. Many were talking about him as a possible top ten ATG by the time his career was done. His speed, power, footwork and timing were unprecedented, as was his uncanny ability to beat the daylights out of opponents much bigger than him. He was a whirlwind and it is disrespectful and plain wrong to label him a "bum". Indeed, if Floyd really thought this then he would without doubt have taken the money and enjoyed an easy 100,000,000 dollars work. It is true that Manny cannot match Mayweather, or indeed Oscar or probably Mosley for ring IQ. But there are other vital constituents in a fighter that he does (or did) possess- - ability to throw combinations at blinding speed from various angles; - explosive punch power; - outstanding footwork; - iron chin and enormous heart. He could also sustain all of the above at a high tempo over twelve rounds without gassing. Floyd doesn't like southpaws and moreover does not like to fight every minute of every round. Against the Pacquiao of 2009 he would have had to do just that against a fighter who would have been prepared to take punches to land his own. Pacquiao's footwork was exceptional and with his hand speed some of the punches would have landed (Mayweather can't slip every punch in a nine punch combination). This is not to say I believe Manny would definitely have beaten Floyd, but I think in order to win Floyd would have had to visit a very uncomfortable place for twelve rounds and would have been hurt at one point or another. If Manny had landed something on him like Mosley had done it is not beyond belief that he could have stopped him thereafter. I also think Pacquiao's all-out style is more agreeable to the judges against Mayweather's more conservative output. Only a fool would bet against Floyd and it may well be that he would have put on another clinic. I do however think he is risk-averse and there was no bigger risk than a 2009 Pacquiao and that is why the fight was never made.
Many people thought power combined with pressure would be Floyd's demise, so they naturally thought Pac had a legitimate chance, but Floyd has proven that his defense is just to great to have power affect him. Of course this means power in his general weight ranges. I've been a die hard Floyd fan for most of his career and I have come to the conclusion that the fighter that beats Floyd will need to be from MW or above, have devastating power, be able to effectively cut off the ring and hurt Floyd to the body i.e. break ribs. If the fighter does not have those intangibles then they will not win.
I find this a red herring when speaking about Floyd. Floyd is not the fastest boxer out there and never was. What separates Floyd's offensive skills from others is his timing and vision. Pac can be as fast as he wants, but once he starts catching counters flush on the face and head, his hesitancy would slow down that speed, like all of Floyd's previously fast opponents. His vision allows him to react to the opponents speed and deflect the punches impact. His timing and vision allow him to counter you with Flush, fast shots. Manny is no different.
This is just blatantly wrong. And it is reverse logic. He didn't get those fights earlier because, in the minds of Mosley and DLH, there was more money to be made elsewhere and the risk was not worth it. The ODLH and Mosley fights happened when they did BECAUSE Mayweather put himself in position to make those lucrative.
Straight left Deadliest shot in boxing history Killed morales Owned Marquez Destroyed dlh Cotto Margarito Hatton Floyd is orth It's a natural advantage I mean, yeah, floyd could time him. But floyd starts slow There was a huge chance that floyd gets kod round one PAC could also outwork him and had atg stamina, could probably out score him easily Either way floyd had a lot of ways to lose, and only one way to win It was a very well balanced fight
I believe money trumps Floyd's risk aversion. The fight never got made because Pac is Bob's fighter and Bob resents Floyd. So many lies were spewed by Bob that the only logical and rational conclusion is the fight didn't get made because of personal animosity between the two. To try and keep perpetuating the thought that Floyd was scared of Pac is just deluded IMO.
:think We've seen Pac Ko'ed brutally by a single shot 3 times in his career, and we've seen him outboxed also (Morales, Marquez). Yet Mayweather only had one way to win? Really?
+1 Shane had a hurt tooth..the third time; Cotto wasn't ready; Hatton wasn't ready; Oscar had more lucrative fights ahead of him.
Yes at his very peak, i would have Floyd faviourte but lets be fair he'd have by far the most chance, Lightning spped, amazing handspeed, massive punch output and a serious engine, also hits damn hard, Think floyd wins but to be fair Pacquiao would have run him close at his peak
2009 Pac that walked through Cotto's punches would have the absolute best opportunity. He was a true monster at that point. I still think Mayweather would win but Pac is a fellow ATG you can never count him out until the fight occurs
The only question is what happens to floyd when pacquiao lands Moseley had him, if his old ass could still pull the trigger this wouldn't even be discussed because floyd would have his second loss PAC lands for sure. Can floyds weak chin handle it
the simple truth is .... NO! I was actually thinking about this last night and how the fight would have looked and it breaks down to 2 questions. Can pacquiao knock floyd out in one punch? absolutely not.... can pacquiao out jab floyd? Absolutely not.... Floyd would have fought the entire fight like bernard hopkins just jabbing jumping in and holding pacquiao. Floyd would have made the fight boring as ****.