The fight of the decade between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao has been all but finalized, with only the venue left to be decided. (Although let's be honest here, its almost certain to be Vegas)
The weight has apparently been agreed to at 147lbs (welterweight limit) and the glove size at 8oz, which are punchers gloves, favoring Pacquiao.
One of the major worries that a lot of Pac-fans seem to have is that Mayweather will come in over weight for the fight and will gain an unfair advantage by being much heavier than he should be. Coach Roach has said several times recently that he was seeking million dollar penalties for every pound that Floyd comes in over, and anything over three calls off the bout. Although the terms of the deal have yet t be fully publicized, this looks likely to be included.
For Floyd though, three million might be an acceptable amount of money to lose should it give him a decent enough advantage in the fight. After all this isn't three million of a ten million fight purse. Both fighters are expected to clear $40 million each after the pay per views are taken into consideration, not to mention that the winner can make plenty more in other fights down the road.
Is that to say that Floyd is scared to fight Manny? Certainly not, taking the fight alone proves that he isn't intimidated by anything Pacquiao has to offer. Floyd is a calculating and intelligent man, and he knows the risks involved with fighting a fighter on the cusp of greatness like Pacquiao. He has it all to lose, but at the same time all to gain should be win. He also knows that three million in the grand scheme of things isn't a great deal of money to someone like himself, particularly if you set this against the money the victor can make after either himself or Pacquiao is vanquished.
The other obvious question at this juncture is whether a three pound advantage will make that much of a difference. Pacquiao has been the smaller man in his fights in the past, notably against Cotto most recently, without ill effect.
Mayweather is neither a big puncher nor someone who really uses a size advantage to bully his opponents around. Usually preferring instead to pot shot his way to victory despite whatever advantages he might have.
Perhaps then being bigger for Mayweather enables him to take punches better, although of course he never tends to take a lot of punishment in any of his fights. Against Marquez, where he famously came in over weight, he was perhaps testing the waters after a long time away from the ring. If he does the same thing against Pacquiao, he probably expects to get his a lot more than usual, even if he does eventually outpoint the would-be congressman.
A lot of fighters who weight cut a lot each fight tend to suffer from stamina problems later on during fights, but with Mayweather's low work rate and excellent conditioning anyway, this doesn't seem to be a factor either.
I expect Mayweather might come in a little heavy, although I don't think it will make much of a difference to the fight either way.
The weight has apparently been agreed to at 147lbs (welterweight limit) and the glove size at 8oz, which are punchers gloves, favoring Pacquiao.
One of the major worries that a lot of Pac-fans seem to have is that Mayweather will come in over weight for the fight and will gain an unfair advantage by being much heavier than he should be. Coach Roach has said several times recently that he was seeking million dollar penalties for every pound that Floyd comes in over, and anything over three calls off the bout. Although the terms of the deal have yet t be fully publicized, this looks likely to be included.
For Floyd though, three million might be an acceptable amount of money to lose should it give him a decent enough advantage in the fight. After all this isn't three million of a ten million fight purse. Both fighters are expected to clear $40 million each after the pay per views are taken into consideration, not to mention that the winner can make plenty more in other fights down the road.
Is that to say that Floyd is scared to fight Manny? Certainly not, taking the fight alone proves that he isn't intimidated by anything Pacquiao has to offer. Floyd is a calculating and intelligent man, and he knows the risks involved with fighting a fighter on the cusp of greatness like Pacquiao. He has it all to lose, but at the same time all to gain should be win. He also knows that three million in the grand scheme of things isn't a great deal of money to someone like himself, particularly if you set this against the money the victor can make after either himself or Pacquiao is vanquished.
The other obvious question at this juncture is whether a three pound advantage will make that much of a difference. Pacquiao has been the smaller man in his fights in the past, notably against Cotto most recently, without ill effect.
Mayweather is neither a big puncher nor someone who really uses a size advantage to bully his opponents around. Usually preferring instead to pot shot his way to victory despite whatever advantages he might have.
Perhaps then being bigger for Mayweather enables him to take punches better, although of course he never tends to take a lot of punishment in any of his fights. Against Marquez, where he famously came in over weight, he was perhaps testing the waters after a long time away from the ring. If he does the same thing against Pacquiao, he probably expects to get his a lot more than usual, even if he does eventually outpoint the would-be congressman.
A lot of fighters who weight cut a lot each fight tend to suffer from stamina problems later on during fights, but with Mayweather's low work rate and excellent conditioning anyway, this doesn't seem to be a factor either.
I expect Mayweather might come in a little heavy, although I don't think it will make much of a difference to the fight either way.
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