The megafight everyone has been waiting for is now less than one month away.
Soon, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will enter the ring inside Las Vegas' MGM Grand to decide once and for all which legend will reign supreme.
After years of anticipation and hope followed by missed opportunities for these two fighters to square off, this bout is finally happening. In the days and weeks leading up to the fight, there hasn't been much talk between the sides, and there doesn't have to be—everyone knows what's at stake here.
There has been only limited media hype surrounding a fight that sells itself, but HBO recently put an end to that, releasing the official commercial for the pay-per-view event.
Few words are spoken in the trailer, and it just may leave you with the chills:
With that commercial successfully increasing practically every boxing fan's anxiety level while impatiently awaiting the fight, let's go ahead and add to the anticipation with some updated predictions.
Mayweather enters the fight with a career record of 47-0, and while the pound-for-pound king has emerged victorious from many difficult career fights, completing his run as the champ without successfully taking down Pacquiao would probably have always lingered in the back of his mind.
Money may be in his late 30s but remains as agile and intelligent in the ring as ever. His tremendous defense and counterpunching ability helped him to take down Saul Alvarez with a majority decision in 2013. He followed that bout up with a pair of fights against the bruising Marcos Maidana, and while he came away slightly worse for the wear after their first fight, the second wasn't even close.
Mayweather showed a great deal of endurance in those fights, as each went a full 12 rounds, but saw him still looking fresh toward the end. That will be an enormous attribute for Money against Pacquiao, as the Filipino is no stranger to participating in fights that go the distance.
In fact, that has been one of the knocks against Pacquiao during the twilight of his career. Time and time again, you'll hear that Pacquiao has lost his killer instinct and doesn't have what it takes to win via knockout at this juncture.
That may very well be true, as his last victory that didn't come by a decision was against Miguel Cotto back in 2009.
Pacquiao has been on a roller-coaster ride over his last five fights. A loss to Timothy Bradley Jr. and a knockout at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez in the sixth round put Pacquiao's future in doubt. However, he did come back strong, winning his next three fights, including a rematch against Bradley at MGM Grand.
When looking at the recent body of work put forth by both fighters, it's easy to see Pacquiao has very little chance of knocking out Mayweather. The Filipino has been aggressive but continues to lack the power to deliver a crushing blow, and it's difficult to see him land something of significance against Mayweather's defense.
While Pacquiao should be expected to be the aggressor and throw a high volume of punches, look for Mayweather to carefully pick his spots and find an opportunity to counter. Pacquiao has been exposed in this area before—notably against Marquez—and Money could take full advantage.
Still, each fighter is extremely smart and will respect his opponent's strengths, making it difficult for either to land a fight-ending blow. If that's the case, and this bout does go a full 12 rounds, Mayweather's endurance and precise strikes will earn him the victory.
Prediction: Mayweather wins by unanimous decision
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1yb2mk6
via IFTTT April 07, 2015 at 09:16AM
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