I decided to watch the Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fight on HBO replay since I refuse to overpay for a pay per view event. I thought the fight was particularly telling given the predictions and Manny Pacquiao’s recent monster performances against bigger and supposedly stronger men. The fight did not start out as I thought it would, both men were extremely cautious of one another and kept a safe distance.
To me this start was understandable given their history with early explosions in their two previous encounters. Early on Pacquiao landed some big head shaking bombs and really started to take control with his movement and angle punching. From the fourth round on it seemed like Pacquiao started to give in to a counterpunching clinic by a superbly conditioned Marquez. Ultimately Paquiao was ruled the winner by a majority decision that was highly disputable. I heard about Paquiao’s edge in connected punches but let’s face it an overall edge of 38 punches doesn’t mean much if it means anything at all. This leads me to my question and the question of many die hard and casual boxing fans out there. Is a matchup between Mayweather and Pacquiao still a magical bus we all want to get on?
To answer that question it’s necessary to take a look at their most interesting common denominator, Juan Manuel Marquez. When Mayweather signed to fight Marquez he was coming off a long layoff. Marquez was considered a top pound for pound fighter and deservedly so. The fight was fought at a catchweight of 144 lbs. and Mayweather dominated Marquez thoroughly. Throughout the fight Mayweather used a combination of speed, flawless defense, and spot offense. Mayweather beat Marquez convincingly, something that Pacquiao had not been able to accomplish. When the rematch was signed between Marquez and Pacquiao the consensus was that Manny would destroy Marquez within seven rounds.
I understand why everyone thought Pacquiao wold demolish Marquez. Pacquiao destroyed Margarito, he made Mosley look every bit his age, smacked Cotto around and was pretty well established as a slayer given his track record since the De La Hoya fight. The odds makers also felt that Marquez could not possibly be effective at near welterweight given his performance against Mayweather. This was an understandable assumption as very few fighters are able to go from weight to weight effectively. History will point to great boxers that did not make certain transitions well such as Wilfred Benitez at middleweight getting demolished by Mustafa Hamsho. Everyone assumed this was going to be easy work for Pacquiao. The big surprise of the night was that it wasn’t and it turned out to be Pacquiao’s most difficult fight yet since he started running through the big men. The question of the Mayweather fight comes up again and this time the answer is a little different.
Mayweather showed that he still has his reflexes, speed, and defensive prowess. Mayweather is physically bigger than Pacquiao and as far as boxing is concerned he is better than Marquez. If Marquez has the kind of style that troubles Pacquiao then Mayweather has the style that will pose a nightmare to Pacquiao. After 59 fights and multiple battles Pacquiao has shown that he is human and susceptible, he can be beat. Mayweather on the other hand has yet to be put on the spot by anyone. Shane Mosley landed two shots on Mayweather before getting a thorough boxing lesson.
Any fighter can have an off night but this night was worst than off when multiple boxing pundits had the fight scored a draw or for Marquez. Mayweather would definitely be the favorite in a fight with Pacquiao and given his ability to box he would likely slow Pacquiao down. There is always the possibility that Pacquiao has a sensational performance saved up but I find that to be a difficult sell. To answer the question I don’t think this fight is the magical bus because it’s pretty clear that Pacquiao would come in as the underdog against Mayweather. Hopefully the two men will sign a contract and we can all find out once and for all.