The boxing world waited over five years for the Floyd “Money” Mayweather vs. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao super fight to happen and when it finally did the fight was a dud.
We didn’t get to see a prime Manny Pacquiao with the beast mode mentality that made him special. Instead we got an injured and tentative Pacquiao, who was gun-shy from being knocked out cold by Juan Manuel Marquez.
I honestly feel if Pacquiao was never knocked out cold by Marquez he would have been much more competitive against Floyd.
I don’t buy into the shoulder excuse even though I do believe he had an injury heading into the fight. Trainer Freddie Roach already admit that USADA gave them permission during training camp to give Pacquiao pain-killer injections to deal with the injury that got aggravated during sparring.
I lost interest leading up to the fight when Floyd and Manny finally met for the first time at a Miami Heat basketball game only to go to a hotel room and discuss the fight. There was also little trash talk from Floyd and no press tour to build up the fight and hype it up.
I felt they had a silent agreement to just go the distance and milk us for another rematch because the way these two fought was like a light sparring match with little to no contact. Most of the fight it was Floyd moving backward and hugging Manny anytime he got in close. The referee didn’t warn or deduct any points from Floyd for the constant clinching.
Honestly speaking, I don’t see the rematch being any different. Pacquiao might have two good arms now, but he won’t be able to close the gap and fire off combos against a mobile and slick Mayweather.
Pacquiao is also 40-years-old and no matter how good people think he looks for his age against the likes of Lucas Matthysse and Adrien Broner, he isn’t the 2009 Pacman that ripped through Miguel Cotto.
Pacquiao will just get frustrated trying to follow Floyd around the ring all night and getting clinched in the process.
The fight will be no different from the first and Floyd will just cruise to another boring unanimous decision victory.
Casuals will buy the fight, but I don’t see it doing anywhere near the 4.6 million PPV buys it did the first time around. If I were to guess I would say the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao rematch will do 2 million PPV buys.
I personally feel an Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder heavyweight unification bout or a Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence Jr. welterweight championship fight are worth the Pay-Per-View because these matches pit prime fighters at the tops of their division against each other in meaningful fights.
