AT THE peak of his pound-for-pound powers, Manny Pacquiao would pulverize opponents and hear a familiar chant at the end of each fight.
The chant would begin at the edge of the crowd, from among inebriated hardcore fans who would start off with bellowing beer burps before breaking into a refrain. The chant would roll all the way to the perfumed set in their pricey ringside seats until it would spill over to a country a continent and an ocean away—where passionate Pinoys would join in the clamor, “We want Floyd!”
Guess what? We got it.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. made the announcement people have been clamoring for him to make, giving an entire archipelago the best news to wake up to after weeks of politically-charged headlines by saying, basically: “It’s on. May 2. Las Vegas.”
For years, every time I get asked who I think will win a megabout between the two top pound-for-pound fighters of their era, I’d normally shrug my shoulders, smile and throw the question back. The answers I get range from amusing to insightful, but all of them had a similar undertone: a wistful, dreamy quality of hope that the two boxers finally get their acts on the ring, not in a verbal back-and-forth on news sites, papers and social media.
Now that it is actually happening, I find myself confronting the question again.
If Floyd Mayweather Jr. had agreed to this fight five years ago, I would have said, without a pause for breath, Manny Pacquiao would smoke him senseless. The power in Pacquiao’s punches, the speed and uncanny angles with and from which he delivers them and the relentless, forward-marching energy that never dissipates once the opening bell uncorks it seemed, to me, too much for Mayweather, who isn’t exactly comfortable fighting southpaws.
For all Mayweather’s defensive prowess and that wall-of-Troy shoulder roll, at some point, Manny Pacquiao’s drive would have cracked an opening and deal the undefeated American loss No. 1.
Now? It’s 55-45 Mayweather via decision. While Pacquiao is still as relentless and as driven as before, there is a certain zing, a certain snap that has disappeared over the years. We’ve tried to quantify it in words. Killer instinct. Knockout power. Hunger. But that thing, that mojo, that irreplaceable boxing life force doesn’t have an exact name. All it has is a presence and for some time now, that presence has disappeared.
Where he’d once throw seven, eight punches in a flurry, he now throws six, seven. That one missing punch is crucial, mind you. Already vulnerable to a right-hand counter even at his demolition best, that missing one punch even makes him more prone to a jarring comeback, a well-timed right could end his night. Ask Juan Manuel Marquez.
It’s not that the undefeated American (47-0) is still un-crackable. Marcos Maidana proved that Mayweather may be susceptible to relentless pressure (hello, Pacquiao’s calling card) and you can bet a bulk of Freddie Roach’s training program will be built on trying to suffocate “Money” with barrage after barrage, combinations after combinations. Even Oscar De la Hoya showed that relentless jabbing can trouble Mayweather. And Roach was in De La Hoya’s corner as he watched
Golden Boy ease the pressure on the gas pedal and lose out in the end.
But Mayweather is as smart as he is talented. The guy’s main strength is his ability to adapt to how the fight presents itself and make quick adjustments with every passing round.
Pacquiao’s 45 percent share of my odds lies in Roach making sure his game plan for the last six rounds will be different from the one in the first six. He needs to catch Mayweather flat-footed by the time the American thinks he’s got the
Filipino ring icon figured out. Better yet, he should have another game plan for the final three rounds if need be. The only thing that will tie all game plans? Pressure. Unyielding, unforgiving, unrelenting pressure.
Mayweather has said he plans on making Pacquiao No. 48 in his countdown to the title “The Best Ever.”
Pacquiao, on the other hand, continued being Pacquiao.
(Ochoa is assistant sports editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Read his full article his blog https://francistjochoa.wordpress.com)