Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Money the Clear Winner as Pac-Man Fails in Title Fight
In the fallout of the biggest boxing fight of all time, it would be easy to ignore Manny Pacquiao's failures in Las Vegas in comparison to Floyd Mayweather's triumphs.
The Pretty Boy outclassed and out-thought the Filipino Slugger on Saturday, with the challenge of Pac-Man both underwhelming and inadequate.
When evaluating the reasoning behind Pacquiao's spectacularly bad performance, it is simple to deduce he has come one fight too far in his boxing journey and that he met a superior pugilist at the MGM Grand.
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Mayweather tactically fought the battle most believed he would, but Pac-Man's effervescence was to be his key to winning—and it never materialised.
Absurdly, Pacquiao even declared himself the winner shortly after the unanimous decision was announced. Listen to the boxer's comments here:
In the above audio, Pac-Man claimed he "got in many times," but this was clearly not the case. Mayweather's defence was as good as expected, and he never looked troubled or genuinely hurt. Fans of the Filipino believed he would launch continuous waves of attacks to push Money backward, but it simply never came to pass.
Previously, Pac-Man has shown he's always been ready to go to war with an opponent, but there is a train of thought which points toward the fighter having too much respect for Mayweather.
He stood off Pretty Boy on the rare occasions the American remained static, and this is not the style of the Manny Pacquiao that fight fans have fallen in love with over many years.
There was fear apparent in Pac-Man's game plan, and the influence of Freddie Roach was clearly not present when his boxer needed him most.
Mayweather would surely have been expecting a tougher night in front of a packed crowd of celebrities and superstars, but it was all too easy for him in the end, with all three judges comfortably giving him the verdict, per David Kull of ESPN:
Burt Clements scored the fight closest for the Pac-Man, but he still gave the fighter only four rounds, with his work rate nowhere near good enough.
It feels like the end of the road for Pacquiao, but there may be one top fight left for him if Amir Khan takes up the challenge of facing his former Wild Card stablemate.
Styles make fights, and Pacquiao would be able to trade with a dogmatic Khan, who likes to throw waves of punches and launch stinging attacks.
Mayweather was always going to be the wrong opponent for Pac-Man, with the stylistic principles crippling the usually busy boxer.
Khan would offer Pacquiao a chance of redemption should they climb into the ring together, but the Brit might have his eye on being Mayweather's final opponent, leaving the Nation's Fist out in the cold and forcing his retirement.
Mayweather has categorically proved he is in a class bracket of one, with no fighter proving worthy of challenging his status as the pound-for-pound king of the ring.
Khan would give Money the chance of one last gigantic payday, with the enthusiasm of British fight fans driving a huge contest between the two.
Many see Khan as a younger version of Pac-Man, but the 28-year-old spoke of the reasons behind the boxer's failure at the MGM, saying, per BBC Sport:
"The mistake Manny made was to drop to Mayweather's pace. You need to stick to your own pace and that's what a younger man could do. Mayweather is a very classy fighter but he is not the biggest puncher. He won't hurt you. One boxer who can get to him, throw a lot of shots, and show a lot of heart, is Amir Khan.
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Whichever fighter gets to climb into the ring with Khan, boxing fans will be in for a treat as a legend gets to take on one of the true pretenders to their legacy.
Pac-Man may need Khan more than ever after his poor showing in Las Vegas, but the Brit will want a shot at the greatest boxer currently walking the planet.
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