a prime pernell whittaker vs manny pacquiao, who would win???

Yeah he cant afford to do what he did with Cotto, although some might say that was by design, but...., as you say, he cant afford to hold his feet after throwing.

That is a great point. I have been thinking that, thats Margo's best chance, if he can break Pac's rythm up enough in that particularly period, hurt him, or get him embroiled in a fire fight, get him away from his game plan momentarily, then as you say, could be interesting. As you said, Pac will be doing a lot of moving, a lot of punching, which IMO, is the best way to beat Margo, keep him playing defense, but as you say, that takes a lot outta you, which is one of the reasons I would want to keep Margo in the centre, cause once he gets a momentum going, he can be pretty relentless on the front foot, I mean, there is difference between moving around the ring, to being forced around it.

Yeah thats the only thing that concerns me if Pac keeps Margo in centre ring, will he be able to catch Manny on the tail end of punches because! of that extra reach?

Great point that is, that is most probably where the fight hinges, its down to how Manny copes in that period, will he keep Margo out, or let him in? one thing I always say about Pac, his footwork is okay when he is doing something he wants to do, but not when forced to do something he does not want to do, I thought there was a moment in the Hatton fight which illustrated this, which is most probably where you would say, a pressure fighter can have his success, but that is when you have to be mindful that he is sharp shooter, and that if you dont keep your D in tact as you roll foward with that pressure, can be like walking into a propeller.

 

That's another thing in Pacquiao's favor. Can Margarito really walk through a helicopter blade anymore? I don't think he'll have the same punch resistance or at least enough of what he'll need. Hoping that Pacquaio gets fatigued and offers him opportunities on a plate is all the chance he has.

You can't just follow Pacquiao around, that's when he's at his element. The best way to beat him is to make him miss and make him pay. Which only Floyd could do. All his opponents have said they just couldn't see his punches, bad news for Margarito. You need a jab and a effective "2" to keep him still, not a barrage of big, slow, looping shots. And as you say Margarito doesn't have a jab.

 

Why would welterweight come into it? It´s a fantasy matchup so there is no need whatsoever to match them up at their worst weights. It would be logical to consider this matchup at lightweight.

 

Well, welterweight is where Whitaker showed stylistically the biggest "problem" he would have is with other technicians, it gives us some reference point...and just to emphasize the lack of physicality Pea had. Either way Whitaker vs. Mayweather is a close fight IMO.

 

Agree, also, there is that element of, what happens if he gets hit with a punch he does not see? which is a possibility if he becomes so embroiled in what he is landing, and not being mindful that Pac can throw back.

Agree. That jab stabilizes him for the other punches you want to land.

 

He was no way near the same fighter at welterweight, that much is true, just as Floyd isn´t. Anybody that thinks Floyd would beat a great welterweight is living in cloud cuckoo land and probably the same for Pea. Neither matches up well with a Thomas Hearns.

But theres really no point, its more interesting matching them up at their best.

 

Floyd has a better shot at welterweight then Pernell does. Hearns is just a fighter who's a nightmare for almost anyone at welterweight, because you can't outbox him. You need that "dawg" in you along with everything else, to get him out of his comfort zone and get on the inside to expose his weakness. Which few could do.

Even at their best weight, it's a close fight and neither fighter is getting "schooled" because there's no significant style advantage. That's the point.

 

Style advantage might have been the wrong phrashing, but the key point is Whitaker could do most of the things Floyd was capable of with the added bonus that he avoided punches altogether even more than Floyd did down at lightweight, which would look better for him in this matchup when the judges end up tallying their cards, along with the fact he had a consistent jab whereas Mayweather has always relied chiefly on the jab to the chest.

 

I'm glad you went back on the "large" stylistic advantage comment. :good

To add to your point...not to mention Pernell is a southpaw and would give him problems countering with that backhand and is better on the inside. I don't think Mayweather's elbow to the throat would work against Pea either, LOL! I've seen so many Whitaker fights though, that I can foresee what style would give him problems and trust me, Floyd would give Pernell problems. Mayweathers jab to the chest shouldn't be a knock against him, in fact it's a strength in this type of fight where variation and differing the angle and look of your punches would be key.

The biggest problem Pernell would have is with Floyd's patients and accurate straight right, which was Whitaker's biggest weakness. I want you to go and really watch that McGirt fight, even though it's out of Pernell's best weight class it gives you a slight indication of how to beat Whitaker. You're right though, Pea throws the more judge friendly punches and would appear to be doing more even if he wasn't.

I really think this fight would come down to who controlled the ring most and got off the more clean punching. They're both ring generals. The person who could control the action even if he wasn't beating the opponent up would have an advantage. It’s a subtle quality, but if you ever watch a fight and you wonder why you get the impression one guy is winning but they are both landing similarly...that would be the key here and i think Whitaker would have the edge in that aspect.

 

I agree, and the primary reason is the JAB! :good

 

Whitaker might have trouble with lead right, Pendleton managed to land it a few times, plus, I always felt Whitaker did not do as well against longer opponents, Mayweather has a pretty good reach to, that said, I think Whitaker would use his wheels enough so that Floyd would only have sporadic success with that punch.

I think Floyd would be the aggressor to negate Whitaker's southpaw stance, but because Mayweather lacks that conviction when playing role of a aggressor, I think Whitaker would lead him a merry dance at times, as I said before, Whitaker, like Mayweather, was one of the best at making you fight his kind of fight, only Whitaker would be in his element in this fight, where as Mayweather would have to adopt a tactic which is not his bread and butter, not to mention Mayweather gets hit more on the front foot, most notably against lefty's.

Whitaker is a better version of Judah, with better legs to.

 

The jab is just one aspect, there wouldn't be a big enough disparity for it to win one guy the fight so it can't be the "primary" reason. Floyd is no slouch with his jab either and has a longer reach. What i'm talking about is a whole lot more bigger and subtle. It's the awareness and anticipation, which would win Whitaker this fight. As i said before just the superior slickness.

What i mean by that is, Pernell is a fighter who understood how to make his opponent miss and make them pay better then Mayweather. He's a guy who beat you with as many feints as punches and he's also better at being defensive and offensive minded simultaneously. That's the key and it's a lot more nuanced then just a simple jab. :good

 

I'm actually one of those who think Pacquiao did "rope-a-dope" Cotto somewhat. He wanted to taste his power and take his heart. I do think that's only part of the story though. Look back at all his fights and Pacquaio generally doesn't know how to take a breather without compromising his style and giving you chances. That's one of the things i'll be looking out for here. Pacquaio's inability to catch a breather without getting hit, is kind of like De La Hoya's inability to not show his hand when he was tired. It was written all over Oscar's face when he was gassed and it gave his opponents a big psychological boost.

 

Pacquiao with his energy and aggression would bank rounds in this fight and his ability to do the unexpected cannot be understated. I would expect P to win on points but Pacaquaio has a flair for not reading the script. The biggest challenge is not to land something on P but how to follow up and capitalize on it. He couldn't resist a bit of toe to toe action in spots and this could be the ch.i.nk in the armour that Roach would look to exploit. The success rate of Freddie's blueprints for Manny is a powerful weapon.

The "getting beat badly but pulling the fight out of the fire" box hasn't been checked yet for Pacquiao but he has the speed and is explosive enough that I wouldn't rule it out.

I guess the years of being shocked by Pacquaio has taken its toll on me!

 

He's a little tormentor isn't he?

The only time i really picked massively against Pacquiao in recent years was against Oscar. I actually remember saying, the only way De La Hoya doesn't walk Manny down from the door is if he overshoots the mark and is dried out from making 147. But considering he had fought Two Pound at 150 and that was only like 7 months previous...I thought no way Pacquiao wins this because Da La Hoya will easily be at 146 1/2 and rehydrate naturally up to 159 by the bell. The crap that came out of Manny and especially Freddie Roach's mouth had me convinced they were scared of that fight and Pacquiao would be bullied to the ropes throughout...then starched with a left hook.

How wrong i was....