ATG Marvin Hagler Marco Antonio Barrera Nigel Benn Active Juan Manuel Marquez David Haye Paul Williams
Cobra, do you think Pac could beat Mayweather at 143-145lbs? The more I think about it, the more I think Pacquiao would cause an upset.
Definitely. Until I see how Mayweather looks against Marquez, I won't make a pick, but Pacquiao certainly has an excellent shot. His speed, footwork, southpaw stance, offensive arsenal from so many angles, and power would give Floyd a lot of problems. The lower the weight the better for him too. I used to believe that it would be something of a mismatch for Floyd, but the way Pacquiao has been performing at these weights has changed that. I'm not going to doubt him again.
The key to this fight as I see it is Pacquiao's footwork and movement. As long as he stays in continuous motion, keeping the fight as near the centre of the ring as possible as often as possible, keeps using angles and rapid in-out attacks, and maintains a very high tempo, I think he would win a decision. I cannot see Floyd stopping him and I cannot see Floyd outworking him, and I can see Pac landing more in terms of volume and quality/impact/power than anyone else Mayweather has ever fought. **** it, I am calling it now, I genuinely believe Pacquiao would win.
But Floyd's so good in the middle of the ring himself, he's so good at countering too. Also, in most of his fights, especially his last 3, Pac rarely missed. That's partly because he has great accuracy, and partly because his opponents were not doing much to avoid punishment for those 3. what happens when he's confronted with Mayweather's defense? Too much to think about for me to make a pick as of now. Maybe Pac is too difficult for Floyd to time frequently, and maybe his speed/power/accuracy makes Floyd go entirely defensive and he does take the decision. Who knows, maybe Pac doesn't have much problems breaking through Mayweather's defense. I'm not sure, I probably won't even have a pick by fight night if/when it comes. I do know two things: This fight absolutely has to happen, and I'll be rooting for the awesomeizationism to continue.