Floyd Mayweather JR Vs Manny Pacquiao: Will the Bully Step Up?
By Gina L. Caliboso
For a while, it seemed that the exploits of Floyd “Money” Mayweather, JR., all ran together. Let me check the TMZ news summaries for Money Mayweather…hmm, rather empty these days.
But nonetheless, as far as the challenge between the up for dispute, pound for pound, rivals Mayweather and Pacquiao goes, it’s quiet. Too quiet. Even though Manny Pacquiao has a bout in May, the noise behind this upcoming fight is rather subdued. Given that Pacquiao remains the more active fighter, what exactly must be considered regarding Mayweather’s state of readiness for a Pacquiao bout?
Since negotiations for the megabout between Pacquiao and Mayweather, JR., basically fell apart, the inherent value of the words behind Mayweather, JR., slowly fell into the notion of the warning given to movie goers before the movie, “Silence is Golden.”
Mayweather, JR., had been so adamant in his accusations of Pacquiao’s steroid use, etc etc. , he pushed, he talked, he bullied, until finally, his rants (but not on the level of Charlie Sheen), came to be just that – rants.
There is more power to silence.
But back to a couple of words I used about Mayweather’s silence and his bullying. By Mayweather JR’s silence on the matter of fighting Pacquiao, he is playing it very smart. By not paying attention to a possibility that had already been considered ad nauseum in the course of last year, Mayweather’s inattention is actually a good thing.
Meanwhile, his some-day opponent Pacquiao remains in the spotlight of boxing when he faces Mosley in May. But even so, there really isn’t that much hype behind this bout. It’s not a losing or uninteresting fight by any means, but there’s still an expectation from fight fans that the one fight everyone wants to see is simply not happening.
By the fight not materializing as everyone would like, it’s serving as its own self-promotion – The lack of attention just might bring it into fruition because enough people want to see it.
In regards to Mayweather’s bullying, I use the word as a reference to Mayweather’s tactic to get Pacquiao to engage with him and answer his steroid accusations. These days, with Tweets and Facebook, words play a very powerful part for any athlete or celebrity. By getting the public interested in what you say, however strange, or even confrontational, it’s a form of bullying – pushing people to do what you want.
The definition of bullying is as follows: “the act of intimidating a weaker person to make them do something.”
I’m not saying Pacquiao is weak, but with an accusation, the response is either answered or not. Pacquiao, is in his defense, used silence and Mayweather’s accusation went unanswered which resulted in more speculation.
All that I’m suggesting is exactly that, mere speculation on Mayweather’s part, but I think the fight game is about laying down the challenge between two fighters and putting it out there. And, this is all the stuff that could or could not be happening in the background. But let’s take a more practical plane of looking at Mayweather and if whether he’s in a state of readiness for a Pacquiao bout in December, maybe?
Physically, Mayweather should always be in a state of readiness to fight. Since 2007, he’s fought only 4 times, and in 4 years, he spent two years in retirement. In 2007, he fought against both champions Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
Against De La Hoya, Mayweather defeated the Golden Boy in a 12 round split decision. He followed up with a 10 round TKO against Hatton. Mayweather then “retired” for two years and made his return to the ring against Juan Manuel Marquez. He weighed in heavy against Marquez and towered over the Mexican battler to come away with the 12 round unanimous decision and Marquez getting knocked down in the 2nd.
As this fight demonstrated, Mayweather’s talent for speed simply does not disappear after being idle. Mayweather’s last fight came against Mosley in 2010 and resulted in a 10 round unanimous decision. The scoring for all four bouts weren’t even close. As for his stamina, it’s never been an issue.
I repeat, Mayweather is and should be in a state of readiness to fight Pacquiao because in four years, he’s only fought 4 times. He’s been inactive since the Mosley fight. Mayweather has had enough time to rest. If you break down the fights themselves, Mayweather has fought 46 rounds at 3 minutes each for a total of 138 minutes. That’s just about 2 hrs worth of fighting.
By contrast, Pacquiao has fought a total of 9 times in the last 4 years. More importantly, in 2007, Pacquiao had been fighting at super featherweight and has moved up to welterweight. The moving up in weight definitely shows that he progressed as a boxer, beating his opponents that have included the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez, Hatton, De La Hoya, and more recently a much bigger Antonio Margarito.
So the answer is, again, yes, yes, and a resounding yes! Mayweather is ready for Pacquiao, but at this point, does he even have the edge to defeat him? I don’t think so. It’s a point to consider, Mayweather may beat Pacquiao as long as Pacquiao continues to fight, get worn down, and allow me this, actually training, sparring, and fighting – he’s living the boxer’s life – Pacquiao is in the ring and he’s not turning down challenges.
Can Mayweather say the same?
Sure, it would be a huge upset if Mayweather beat Pacquiao, but think about this, if he doesn’t, it’s even worse, because he has no excuses except for the ones he has created in his inactivity and his silence.