Pernell Whitaker v Manny Pacquaio. 135lbs, 140lbs, 147lbs.

Oh mate come on! Seriously? You are using the mismatch of the year as a reason why Floyd can beat Manny? You're not serious. That tub of lard that Mayweather beat was a pale, pale excuse for the real Juan Manuel Marquez. The fact that you attribute some meaning and significance to that mismatch but absolutely none whatsoever to Pacquiao's showing against Oscar is bizarre to me. There is no value to beating a man jumping 2 weight classes, especially not one who had only had 2 fights at light anyway, and looked to have problems with the physicality of Juan Diaz at 135.

The old "A beats B and B beats C so A obviously beats C" thing is rarely true anyway, but it is especially non-sensical when (a) the B in both cases was a completely different fighter, and (b) B didn't beat C twice anyway.

And being the aggressor is Pac's bread and butter. His pace means Mayweather will find it hard to slide along the ropes away from him, Pac doesn't judder forward like Hatton. His speed means Floyd's defensive system could become unhinged at times, like it was against Judah. And if he can't hit the head, he will smash the body, and dart back out.

The man does very rarely get hit on the chin, but Pac doesn't need to hit him there often. If he gets one hard clean shot in, he either drops Mayweather or makes Floyd retreat even further into defensive mode. Floyd will not want a second taste of that power, no way.

An overstatement, but my thoughts on the jab issue are in full in the Pacman-SRL thread for you.

Unlike Philla and sweet_scientist, I see a clear improvement in Pac since the 2nd Marquez fight.

I'd back him to beat them both, but I feel more sure he would beat Floyd than Shane. I know Floyd can't stop him, and I know Pac will outwork the pot-shot machine. I don't know if he can hang with a Mosley in rampant form. But my gut feeling is he has another level to go to that Hatton and Cotto have not uncovered.

His tactics and accuracy don't merit a mention?

Absolutely nothing at all Pac did had any impact at all on the result? His performance had no input??

Say the Oscar who fought Forbes at 150 had entered the ring, would he have beat Manny?

(it's yet another thing I don't understand, how Oscar was a stone-dead corpse at 147, a lifeless bag of bones that couldn't raise a fist in defiance, yet at a colossal THREE POUNDS heavier in his previous fight, fought hard for 12 rounds and won a wide decision)

The fact that he has a far better chin than you thought means nothing??? But surely it means there is drastically less chance of him being stopped?

The fact that he has far better punching power than you thought means nothing??? But surely it means there is drastically more chance of him doing damage, scoring a knockdown, or at least deterring Floyd from opening up against him?

These things seem to be only logical for a student of boxing. Your opinion changing on two major issues should have at least some sort of bearing on your thoughts regarding this fight.

Yet again, this is nuts. You can't call Marquez a 'master craftsman' when he came to the ring looking four months pregnant, and was facing significant weight and reach disadvantages. It was a mismatch, the fact that Marquez landed nothing means nothing.

By KO. Like I always said, Manny would hold the weight far, far better than Marquez could.

What about Margarito? Clottey?

I look forward to it

Change 'many' to 'any'.

In today's feeble era, this is true. Not so with history though. We could both name 10 people who would beat him at the weights he fought at (from 130 to 147), so he wouldn't escape the lions of history 1 out of 10 IMO.

At 130, he was unbelievably talented. At 147, he is very good. Great welterweights don't throw one punch at a time and brazenly avoid anyone their own size.

But we have both seen better than him all-round.

I agree. It would be one of the best wins ever. And I believe.

 

I think Whitaker/Pacquaio woiuld play out like I beleve Whitaker/Duran would.
Both Pacquaio and Duran do a lot of things and they do them well. However Whitaker is a better pure boxer than both of them.
I don't see Pacquaio outboxing Whitaker at any weight. His bet chance is to try to put presure on Whitaker. Again this gives Whitaker the advantage. He will pick Pacquaio off coming in. I think he easly beats Pacquaio at 135. At that weight he might have the power to stop him. I think at 140 he out boxes him over 12 rounds winning at least 9. !47 would Pacquaio's best chance but I still think Whitaker wins at least 8 rounds.