12 Reasons Floyd Mayweather Will Defeat Manny Pacquiao
This is why Floyd Mayweather will win this Saturday night in Las Vegas.
This Saturday the world will be watching when Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao finally meet in the centre of the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
After six years of negotiations, disputes, and lawsuits, the two best pugilists of this era are going to give fans the fight they have been begging to see.
Mayweather, the current undefeated pound-for-pound king, heads into the fight with an unblemished record of 47-0. Pacquiao, the 2/1 underdog and number two pound-for-pound fighter in the world, is coming off three impressive victories after having been knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.
Many fans and sports analysts are predicting a Pacquiao victory – in some cases by knockout. Pacquiao himself has gone on record as early as Tuesday of this week to say: “My confidence is different than for other fights. I am not nervous. I am excited.”
Granted, this is not going to be an easy fight for Floyd Mayweather, but for anyone – especially Manny Pacquiao – to think this is going to be an easy win for the Filipino sensation is just flat out irresponsible. Floyd Mayweather has a history of making elite fighters look pedestrian between the ropes.
On May 2nd, 2015, the conclusion that has been debated by boxing fans for nearly a decade will play out before our very eyes. That conclusion will most likely see Floyd Mayweather’s record extend to 48-0 and here are 12 reasons why.
12. Punch Accuracy
One of the many attributes that puts Floyd Mayweather into the elite company of boxing’s all-time greats is his punch accuracy. While Mayweather does not dish out punches at high volume like a Manny Pacquiao, what he throws, he lands.
Currently, Mayweather throws an average of 39 punches per round – 18 punches below the sport’s average of 57 per round.
However, in his last two fights – both against the super-busy Marcos Maidana – Mayweather banked rounds where he landed anywhere between 50% and 70% of his punches. Maidana’s connect percentage in his BEST round sat at 30% (26% total in the first fight, 22% in the second).
Manny Pacquiao is an in-and-out type of fighter with unbelievable head movement. He throws punches in bunches from awkward angles and uses his impeccable footwork to get out of dodge.
That being said, Manny still gets hit as much as a pedestrian fighter.
At the beginning of 2013, Pacquiao’s opponents were landing an average 33.6% of their punches. Since then, Pacquiao has been in there with slower, less experienced targets in Brandon Rios, Timothy Bradley, and Chris Algieri and done well. Pacquiao didn’t take much punishment from any of them, but none of these guys produce anything close to Mayweather’s hand speed or punching efficiency.