FRAUDETTES AND PACTÀRDS! ASSEMBLE AND GO TO WAR! Jokes aside, who takes this? Helluva fight could have been, both looked terrific and unstoppable in those matches with offensive fire that could incinerate the ring, arguably the performances where they both built the most aura.
Honestly, if we’re talking about Floyd Mayweather from the Gatti fight vs. Manny Pacquiao from the Hatton fight, I think Mayweather wins a pretty clear decision. Both guys were at insane levels at those points. Floyd against Gatti was basically a flawless performance, his handspeed, defence, footwork and accuracy were ridiculous. He didn’t just outbox Gatti; he completely embarrassed him, made him look like he didn’t belong in the ring. And he barely got touched the whole fight. That version of Floyd was still very offensive too, not the ultra-cautious style he leaned more into later. Pacquiao against Hatton looked like a monster. Super fast, explosive, heavy hands and his footwork had improved a ton by then. He straight up destroyed Hatton with one of the nastiest KOs ever. But if we’re being real, Hatton’s defence was pretty bad and he ran straight into Pacquiao’s best shots without much resistance. Mayweather would never be that easy to hit, ever. Stylistically, Floyd’s style is tailor-made to frustrate someone like Pacquiao. Pac always struggled a bit more with guys who could move, control distance and make him reset, guys like Marquez gave him hell because of counterpunching and timing. Floyd would do that even better, with better defence and better adaptability. I’m not saying Pacquiao wouldn’t have his moments. He’d land here and there, especially early, just based on sheer speed and aggression. He might even clip Floyd clean once or twice because 2009 Pac was that dangerous. But over 12 rounds, Floyd would figure him out, time him coming in and rack up rounds. Pac would struggle to land consistently and might get frustrated swinging at air or getting countered. Unless Pacquiao caught Floyd with a bomb early (which is possible but not super likely), I think Mayweather wins by a wide but competitive decision. Something like 116-112, maybe even 117-111 if Floyd really gets in a rhythm. It wouldn’t be a blowout where Pac gets embarrassed, but Floyd would make it pretty clear who’s controlling the fight. Just my two cents. Both legends, but styles make fights and Floyd’s style is absolute hell for someone like 2009 Manny.
Mayweather. He was older in their actual fight and it’s not like Pacquiao had worse longevity than Mayweather, he won the title again at 40, so he didn’t age worse than Mayweather.
Mayweather,but I can see a chance of pac cracking an upset because his workrate could possibly catch Floyd off guard at times.
Agree with your points but you could make the same arguments on reverse. Pac wouldn't be so easy to hit too thanks to his footwork and Gatti always had an abysmal defense, plus the fight happened when he was almost at the tail end of his career after the wars with Ward so he was pretty messed up as well.
Floyd does have the stlylistic adv over Manny,, but Floyd didnt want Pac in 09, 2010.. Pacs pace and workrate probably would have been too much for Floyd then, which is why he waited 5 years later