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Manny Pacquiao Vs Floyd Mayweather JR: PUNK’D – Boxing News

By Geno McGahee

There was a time when the boxing fans would wait eagerly by the TV screen to see what war of words was exchanged. ESPN was typically the place to go to see the boxers getting interviewed and saying their piece directly to their opponent. The challenge was put down and now, as a viewer, you awaited the next broadcast to see what his opponent had to say. KO Magazine and others were other good places to find out the goings on in the sport, but the times have drastically changed and we have things like Twitter and Facebook to get up to the minute updates and we can witness the war first hand and live.

Floyd Mayweather, JR., 42-0, 26 KO’s, is a gambler outside of the ring, and typically brings in a great deal of cash from his strategic bets. Topbet Sportsbook is always a place where you can find the odds that Floyd uses so well to fatten his bank account. Inside of the ring, he is not the gambler. He is a technician with the sole purpose of winning. He doesn’t have to look spectacular. He doesn’t have to win by knockout. He just needs to win. The fact that he’s not exciting and looks beatable makes him more of a draw. He has created this character “Money” to become this villain that everyone loves to hate. He is the bad guy.

Painted as the good guy is Filipino Superstar, Manny Pacquiao, 54-3-2, 38 KO’s, a fighter that has not lost since 2005, putting together a record of 15-0, 7 KO’s, since the defeat to Erik Morales. Manny is considered a destructive puncher, but at the higher weights, he is not. He has not stopped a good big man in the ring. He battered an old and dehydrated Oscar De La Hoya into submission, but Antonio Margarito, Joshua Clottey, and Shane Mosley have gone the full 12 rounds, taking a lot of big punches along the way from Pacquiao.

The emphasis is on a Pacquiao knockout. Those that are die hard supporters of Manny claim that he will jump all over Floyd, swarm him, and stop him, but when you look at his last 15 fights, he only has 47% knockout rate. He is not the KO threat that most contend he is. He is a natural super featherweight. Floyd has grown into a welterweight, and he has made no bones about it: He wants Pacquiao.

In a recent Tweet, Floyd called Pacquiao a “punk,” and from all reports, Manny has stated that he wants this fight next. Win or lose, it is time to settle the matter, but Bob Arum has been playing defense. He first said that Floyd needs a tune up fight first, that Manny’s cut is too bad to fight in May, that they can’t fight if Floyd is in jail…and so on and so on. The fact of the matter is that Arum knows boxing and he knows the risk involved in this fight. Manny, if he can’t knock Floyd out, he can’t win, and when you look at the recent track record of Pacquiao, there is zero indication that he will win by stoppage or can stop him. The perception of Manny the destroyer is an incorrect one at anything above super featherweight.

We should know in the near future if the boxing gods will shine down upon us and allow this fight to finally occur, but even if it does, don’t think that boxing will all of a sudden be good again. We will be saying goodbye to the only fight that 99% of the boxing fans have been obsessed with, with no other super fight in sight. Stay tuned…

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