By Johnathan Price
Ranger Reporter
A lot of the chat in the sport of boxing is who is the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world today, and it usually comes down to fighters Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Emmanuel Pacquiao. Another conversation is if those two fighters were to meet up in the ring, who would win?
The two are very different when it comes to fighting styles. One is a brawler (Pacquiao) and the other is a defensive counter-puncher (Mayweather). In my opinion, coming off as a brawler gives you an edge in being aggressive; however, it leaves your face open to take a pounding, because aggressive boxers have the tendency to keep their hands down.
When you’re a defensive counter-puncher like Mayweather, it gives you a chance to protect yourself and pick your punches. Therefore, when it comes to boxing styles, I would say Mayweather holds the advantage.
Foot movement is a huge factor in boxing. Both fighters have great foot movement, but one does seem to stick out more than the other. Mayweather’s foot movement is so crafty that it seems he barely gets hit throughout his matches. Pacquiao has great foot movement, but it goes back to what I said earlier: he’s a brawler, which means he always is on the attack, which means you’re going to get hit much more than the counter-puncher. I would say Mayweather owns this category as well. I would rather be the guy not getting his face pounded.
Both fighters have great hand speed. Mayweather. However. is considered the faster of the two. Mayweather has the quickest hands pound for pound in boxing today.
Punching power is something Mayweather lacks. Pacquiao has the stronger punch of the two. If he can break Mayweather’s guard, he possibly could do damage. It’s easier said than done, however. Forty-three fighters have tried to break Mayweather’s guard, and all have come up short.
Mayweather wins fights in a convincing fashion, leaving the audience and judges without any doubt who the winner is. It’s not the same for Pacquiao, whose previous two fights ended in controversy. Against Timothy Bradley, many thought Pacquiao won. The judges saw the fight differently, giving Bradley the win with a 115-113 score in favor of Bradley.
Pacquiao’s fight before the Bradley loss was just as controversial as the one when he took on rival Juan Marquez. The audience felt Marquez had won the fight, but the judges scored the fight in favor of Pacquiao. Pacquiao needs to win his fights in a more convincing way like Mayweather does.
I like to go by the statistics of each fighter: Pacquiao has 54 wins and four losses on his resume. Mayweather is 43-0. With that information gathered, I would say Mayweather would destroy Pacquiao.
Leave a Reply