Comments Thread For: Sulaiman: Mayweather-Pacquiao Would Elevate Boxing

[MDPopescu]

Very true. That's why Floyd's entire strategy will be about pot-shotting and tying up, and engineering as many entanglements as possible.

Even if he wins, there will be no 'dismantling' of any sort. That would involve the sort of risk that Floyd has absolutely no intention of taking.

The biggest problem for Floyd in this fight would be Pacquiao's flurries. They impress judges, regardless of whether they land or not, and there would be thousands of people in the crowd going crazy every time he throws them.

Given the low volume nature of Floyd's approach, there's a real risk he loses rounds on this basis alone.

Just sent a green K for these...

I thought I was alone here... I re-watched Pac-Bradley 1 many times... Pac was throwing so fast that it was impossible to assess (at live speed) if he landed or not... The fact is he didn't land at the ratio to which the audience AND the commentators were cheering...
In short: Pacquiao's flurries are very eye catching... And, by now, Floyd doesn't move as fast as Bradley in the first Pac fight... Therefore my guess above was that Floyd will clinch as much as he can in order to disrupt Pac's pace and fluency... That's why I predicted a hug fest "pigmented" with some of Floyd's ambush style counters...

[IMDAZED]

Pacquiao's flurries aren't going to impress the judges if they miss. And against Mayweather, those misses would probably be glaringly obvious. Pacquiao's going to have to do real damage against Mayweather, not try to De La Hoya his way to a win. He wouldn't be even able to fight like that for a full 12. Not without getting tired. Can he hurt Floyd? Absolutely. Can he put a sustained hurting on him? I don't know.

I could see Pacquiao trying to get on his toes against Mayweather but in case people haven't noticed, he's quite flat-footed these days. Mayweather isn't going to cover up like Rios did because he won't have to. He's got a much longer reach, is as good or better using angles and can keep Pacquiao out of range using both. He'll turn him when he onrushes, or stick out his left and, should Pacquiao get close, he'll do his best to smother while digging little shots downstairs. And if Pacquiao isn't able to consistently land or turn the fight around with one big shot, he's going to start getting countered. Hard. Pacquiao may have greater power but Mayweather is physically stronger. Maybe people don't really see it because he's been fighting guys like Maidana and Alvarez but Pacquiao's gotten used to taking clean punches from the Bradley's and Algieri's of the world. A clean counter right from Mayweather is going to feel much different.

[Dr Rumack]

Just sent a green K for these...

I thought I was alone here... I re-watched Pac-Bradley 1 many times... Pac was throwing so fast that it was impossible to assess (at live speed) if he landed or not... The fact is he didn't land at the ratio to which the audience AND the commentators were cheering...
In short: Pacquiao's flurries are very eye catching... And, by now, Floyd doesn't move as fast as Bradley in the first Pac fight... Therefore my guess above was that Floyd will clinch as much as he can in order to disrupt Pac's pace and fluency... That's why I predicted a hug fest "pigmented" with some of Floyd's ambush style counters...

It's very likely to be a hug-fest. Floyd bending low and Manny shooting over the top and the two coming together awkwardly.

One thing about that however is that Manny is known for hardly ever clinching and holding at all. That wasn't the case against Hatton for example, where Floyd could reasonably expect the senile Joe Cortez to blame Hatton for everything.

[Caught Square]

Mark my words: Pac can't win by decision, not even if he floors Floyd at some point. Pac must KO Floyd flat in order to win this one.

Why not? the crowd will be mainly pro-Pacquiao and will go crazy when he has any success.

[IMDAZED]

Why not? the crowd will be mainly pro-Pacquiao and will go crazy when he has any success.

That's pretty much the case for every Mayweather opponent.

[Caught Square]

That's pretty much the case for every Mayweather opponent.

True but why does Pacquiao have to KO Mayweather flat is my question, it seemed like it was being suggested Pacquiao would be robbed.

[b Murphington]

The more and more I think about the actual fight itself and the lasting impact it has, the more and more I feel that it will have a negative impact. Now it might be because we live in the social media era, where we have constant updates and news coverage on everything, but this fight has been built up to a magnitude where it can't possibly meet expectations. At this point, after 5 years of waiting, it pretty much needs to be a Gatti - Ward 1 type fight, where both fighters say "*** it, let's go" and both fighters end up in the hospital, and that's not gonna happen.

[IMDAZED]

True but why does Pacquiao have to KO Mayweather flat is my question, it seemed like it was being suggested Pacquiao would be robbed.

Yea. Besides, we're discussing strategy, who the hell is thinking about robbery?

[IMDAZED]

The more and more I think about the actual fight itself and the lasting impact it has, the more and more I feel that it will have a negative impact. Now it might be because we live in the social media era, where we have constant updates and news coverage on everything, but this fight has been built up to a magnitude where it can't possibly meet expectations. At this point, after 5 years of waiting, it pretty much needs to be a Gatti - Ward 1 type fight, where both fighters say "*** it, let's go" and both fighters end up in the hospital, and that's not gonna happen.

I totally disagree with you. Besides, I think it's going to be dramatic anyway. But Gatti-Ward? Come on. This fight is coming at the perfect time. There's going to be boxing on network TV and regular cable for the first time in God knows how long. Boxing's going to be everywhere. And when Mayweather or Pacquiao wins, they casuals may actually be familiar with their future opponents. I could go on and on about the positives.

[b Murphington]

I totally disagree with you. Besides, I think it's going to be dramatic anyway. But Gatti-Ward? Come on. This fight is coming at the perfect time. There's going to be boxing on network TV and regular cable for the first time in God knows how long. Boxing's going to be everywhere. And when Mayweather or Pacquiao wins, they casuals may actually be familiar with their future opponents. I could go on and on about the positives.

Are you talking about that deal with NBC? I didn't really read that much into it, but boxing on Network TV is always a good thing, thats the way it should be. You attract more fans that way. That's the way it should've always been done. But how long will it stay like that? And where does that leave HBO and Showtime?