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Before I start, I am no way saying that this fight is a sure thing, firstly Pacquiao has a seriously tough fight with Cotto to get out of the way, but I can't help but notice so many people saying Floyd will KO and walk all over Pacquiao and defeat him worse than he did Marquez. I beg to differ.
Now I actually think Mayweather will beat Pacquiao if they ever fight, I think it'd be a close competitive UD for May, so this is no way a diss to Mayweather, but more an explanation as to why it'll be much tougher to fight Pacquiao than Marquez.
Firstly, Marquez is too small to be a welterweight. Loads of Floyd fans are talking about how Floyd started at Super featherweight and was a featherweight in the amateurs, but the difference is he GREW into a legit Welterweight. He struggled to make weight in his last 3 Super Featherweight fights and openly said he didn't eat for 3 days in his last WBC title defence at Super Featherweight (can't remember who it was against). He then became a lightweight in his early 20s, got too big to be a lightweight moved up again and as it shows, he can't come back down to 144 so is a Welterweight...period! Marquez was a featherweight his whole life, he only moved up to Super Featherweight because Barrera and Morales moved up and he wanted to fight them. He then moved upto Lightweight chasing Pacquiao and looked small to be a lightweight even. He was never in trouble making weight at Superfeather or Feather...not like Mayweather, and at Welterweight had way too much muscle and fat to do anything to harm Floyd.
Pacquiao on the other hand...has grown into a light welterweight (albeit a small one) naturally. He has risen up from flyweight to light welterweight properly, he's filled out as he's gotten older and although he looks a bit small to be a Welterweight, he's cool to be a light welterweight. He hasn't lost speed because of this natural progression in weight, hasn't lost durability and has gained power....like Floyd has.
Secondly, speed. Marquez was slow, Pacquiao has quicker handspeed than Mayweather WHEN throwing combinations in my opinion. Shot for shot Mayweather has quicker hands, but combinations Pacquiao throws quicker. His footwork is awesome so he'll be going in and out, down to the side and generally be harder to hit than Marquez. Marquez response to Floyds punches was slow and he would throw back slowly, but Pacquiao won't be that slow.
Thirdly, punching power. Pacquiao has more punching power than Marquez and has the ability to hurt Floyd whereas against Marquez, Floyd was grinning at ever shot landed. Take round 2 for example, Marquez landed a left to this side of Floyds head I think, Floyd smiled and proceeded to left hook him to the canvas. With Pacquiao when a straight left hand lands like that, Floyd will feel it and COULD end up brawling. He won't be grinning and come back to KD Pacquiao...well at least I think he won't! Pacquiao can hurt Floyd, Marquez couldn't. So the fact Pacquiao is a little bigger, much quicker and much stronger already gives him a better chance than Marquez did.
Fourthly, Mayweather looks like he has a slight difficulty with southpaws. The first 4-5 rounds with Judah, Super Zab landed some nice crisp left hands. Pacquiao is as fast and punches just as hard, he might be difficult for Floyd to figure out early on..and UNLIKE Zab, he'll fight consistently down the stretch and not throw it away like Judah would.
Fifthly, Freddie Roach. He trained the fighter who came closest to beating Floyd in Oscar and yeah maybe that fight should not have been scored that close but De La Hoya was pretty effective against Mayweather early and Freddie has the tendency to pull out great game plans.
Finally (sorry to go on) Vegas love fighters who go forward. If this fight goes to the scorecards and it's evenly contested...don't bet against a Pacquiao win....just ask Marquez, he knows what it feels like to fight Pacquiao in Vegas, argueably outbox him and then get on the wrong end of a split decision. Pacquiao coming forward and Mayweather being defensive could swing it his way.
Like I said, Pacquiao still has a massive task against Cotto and I still reckon Mayweather UD's Pacquiao in a closely contested fight but this is why I reckon Pacquiao Vs Mayweather is a lot closer and cannot be compared to Mayweather Vs Marquez.
Now I actually think Mayweather will beat Pacquiao if they ever fight, I think it'd be a close competitive UD for May, so this is no way a diss to Mayweather, but more an explanation as to why it'll be much tougher to fight Pacquiao than Marquez.
Firstly, Marquez is too small to be a welterweight. Loads of Floyd fans are talking about how Floyd started at Super featherweight and was a featherweight in the amateurs, but the difference is he GREW into a legit Welterweight. He struggled to make weight in his last 3 Super Featherweight fights and openly said he didn't eat for 3 days in his last WBC title defence at Super Featherweight (can't remember who it was against). He then became a lightweight in his early 20s, got too big to be a lightweight moved up again and as it shows, he can't come back down to 144 so is a Welterweight...period! Marquez was a featherweight his whole life, he only moved up to Super Featherweight because Barrera and Morales moved up and he wanted to fight them. He then moved upto Lightweight chasing Pacquiao and looked small to be a lightweight even. He was never in trouble making weight at Superfeather or Feather...not like Mayweather, and at Welterweight had way too much muscle and fat to do anything to harm Floyd.
Pacquiao on the other hand...has grown into a light welterweight (albeit a small one) naturally. He has risen up from flyweight to light welterweight properly, he's filled out as he's gotten older and although he looks a bit small to be a Welterweight, he's cool to be a light welterweight. He hasn't lost speed because of this natural progression in weight, hasn't lost durability and has gained power....like Floyd has.
Secondly, speed. Marquez was slow, Pacquiao has quicker handspeed than Mayweather WHEN throwing combinations in my opinion. Shot for shot Mayweather has quicker hands, but combinations Pacquiao throws quicker. His footwork is awesome so he'll be going in and out, down to the side and generally be harder to hit than Marquez. Marquez response to Floyds punches was slow and he would throw back slowly, but Pacquiao won't be that slow.
Thirdly, punching power. Pacquiao has more punching power than Marquez and has the ability to hurt Floyd whereas against Marquez, Floyd was grinning at ever shot landed. Take round 2 for example, Marquez landed a left to this side of Floyds head I think, Floyd smiled and proceeded to left hook him to the canvas. With Pacquiao when a straight left hand lands like that, Floyd will feel it and COULD end up brawling. He won't be grinning and come back to KD Pacquiao...well at least I think he won't! Pacquiao can hurt Floyd, Marquez couldn't. So the fact Pacquiao is a little bigger, much quicker and much stronger already gives him a better chance than Marquez did.
Fourthly, Mayweather looks like he has a slight difficulty with southpaws. The first 4-5 rounds with Judah, Super Zab landed some nice crisp left hands. Pacquiao is as fast and punches just as hard, he might be difficult for Floyd to figure out early on..and UNLIKE Zab, he'll fight consistently down the stretch and not throw it away like Judah would.
Fifthly, Freddie Roach. He trained the fighter who came closest to beating Floyd in Oscar and yeah maybe that fight should not have been scored that close but De La Hoya was pretty effective against Mayweather early and Freddie has the tendency to pull out great game plans.
Finally (sorry to go on) Vegas love fighters who go forward. If this fight goes to the scorecards and it's evenly contested...don't bet against a Pacquiao win....just ask Marquez, he knows what it feels like to fight Pacquiao in Vegas, argueably outbox him and then get on the wrong end of a split decision. Pacquiao coming forward and Mayweather being defensive could swing it his way.
Like I said, Pacquiao still has a massive task against Cotto and I still reckon Mayweather UD's Pacquiao in a closely contested fight but this is why I reckon Pacquiao Vs Mayweather is a lot closer and cannot be compared to Mayweather Vs Marquez.
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