Manny Pacquiao Will Forever Be Second to Floyd Mayweather After Loss

No matter what Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao does for the rest of his boxing career, he'll go down as one of the best fighters in history...and inferior to Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr.

Saturday night's fight of the century didn't deliver the slugfest that many casual fans craved, but it was clearly an exhibition of one fighter who was technically, physically and mentally superior to his opponent. Mayweather was the man in all three instances and on all three scorecards, per Showtime Sports.

We thought Pacquiao might be able to hit, hurt and finish Mayweather. He accomplished the first two tasks on at least two occasions, but the third and most important of the trio eluded him. Pacquiao deserves credit. He joined a group of only a handful of fighters who can say they actually hit Mayweather flush.

Aside from those brief moments of success, Pacquiao was made to look like the smaller, slower and less-intelligent in-ring performer. He couldn't close the distance, as Mayweather's jab and straight right dominated the action.

Pacquiao could never find the angles or opportunity to throw enough punches to win the rounds. The punch stats below from former world champion "Sugar" Shane Mosley prove that.

There was some worry about Pacquiao's speed, but it didn't prove to be a major issue for Mayweather. Pacquiao was getting dominated by the jab the entire fight, yet he and trainer Freddie Roach never made the adjustments necessary.

After the fight, Pacquiao blamed an injured shoulder for the loss, per ESPN.com's Dan Rafael.

Pacquiao also said he thought he won the fight, per BoxingInsider.com.

Yet, he acknowledged that his best wasn't good enough, per Rafael.

Huh?

First, it's never good to divulge an injury after a loss. It only sounds like an excuse. Rafael speaks on that a bit in his tweet, and Showtime's Paulie Malignaggi hammers the point home in his post-fight tweet:

For Pacquiao to say he believed he won the fight seems (in my Mike Tyson voice) ludicrous. How can you throw and land fewer punches while failing to drop your opponent and believe you won a fight?

That was a disappointing stance from a great fighter like Pacquiao. Even in victory, Mayweather gave Pacquiao his props, but Pacquiao had to make excuses?

That's unfortunate.

There was some thought coming into the fight that this bout might be the one that truly threatened Mayweather's boxing legacy. In the end, it was just another win for the best fighter of this era. 

Al Bello/Getty Images

Pacquiao's career may not be over, as there are a ton of regular fighters he can still beat. However, when presented with the chance to separate himself from every other pugilist in his era, he failed.

He is undoubtedly a future Hall of Famer, but after Saturday night, he will always be second to Mayweather.

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