Though I do believe Floyd Mayweather will defeat Manny Pacquiao, this isn’t a one-sided match-up that Pac Man can’t win. If Manny is able to pull off the upset, here are five reasons he would do so.
- You don’t get old in the ring, you get old in the gym. That’s what legendary boxer Bernard Hopkins once said. Mayweather last fought eight months ago, and at the age of 38, he is nearly two years older than his opponent. Father Time is undefeated, and if he has caught up with Floyd, he will suffer his first loss.
- Manny is very aggressive. Though Floyd and others have often called Pacquiao reckless, it is that style of boxing that has made him very popular, has led to many of his knockdowns and knockouts but has also led to him getting knocked out as well. If Pacquiao is able to keep the pressure on Mayweather, he could land some big punches and pull off the upset.
- The judges get it wrong. We have all viewed far too many boxing decisions where one of the judges, if not all, just didn’t get the fight right. In what is the two biggest fights of all time, certain to be surpassed by today’s fight, Mayweather won both, but the scoring was off. In Mayweather’s victory over Canelo Alvarez, two judges had Floyd winning 117-111 and 116-112, but there was one judge who scored the bout 114-114 apiece. In his victory over Oscar De La Hoya, one judge had it 115-113 in favor of the Golden Boy. A similar outcome may hand Mayweather his first defeat.
- Manny receives help from a higher power. Pacquiao has become an evangelical Christian, and this fight has been viewed by many as a fight between good and evil. Manny is a Christian who recently saved a Filipino woman from execution, and Mayweather has served time for domestic violence. Though I don’t think Mayweather is evil, it is easy who is who in this battle. Divine intervention? Possibly.
- Trainer Freddie Roach. There is another legend who may have a hand in this fight, and that is legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach. He has won the Eddie Futch-John F.X. Condon Award for Trainer of the Year an astonishing seven times since 2003, and he feels like he can crack the May Vinci Code. “I’ve been training Manny for this fight for five years. We know all about him, we have covered all the bases. I think we have the winning formula to win this fight,” Roach said Thursday during a press conference. We will see later today if Roach can assist Pacquiao in pulling off the upset.
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