Floyd Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs), in predictable enough fashion, danced and defended his way to a 12-round, unanimous-decision victory over Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) in front of a global audience at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Mayweather now holds the WBC, WBA and WBO World Welterweight titles and has cemented his status as the best pound-for-pound pure boxer of his generation. Pacquiao didn't gain much from a fight in which he was outclassed for so many rounds, but his legacy shouldn't take a big hit from this.
This fight was always going to mean more for Mayweather's legacy than Pacquiao's. Mayweather had the undefeated record, the unassailable in-ring reputation and the brash, in-your-face persona. Watching him lose would have been great schadenfreude for so many fans around the world, but Pacquiao was unable to deliver.
The Filipino master landed flush shots, but he was never able to press home his advantage, and far too many times, his combinations came up empty. Marcos Maidana drew blood from Mayweather in their first bout; Pacquiao hardly scuffed him.
ESPN Boxing provided Mayweather's comments after the bout:
Pacquiao is a legend, one of the best pound-for-pound boxers of all time, there is no arguing that. He boasts a record eight titles in eight different weight classes, 38 knockouts and wins over the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya (among others).
He's revered in his home country, a symbol of hope and triumph to millions of people in the Philippines and millions more around the world. A loss, even by knockout (which was always a remote possibility), wouldn't have changed any of that, although some might've forgotten for a brief period of time.
A win over Mayweather, whether or not you subscribed to the "good vs. evil" narrative based on Mayweather's legal and personal transgressions, would have made him a hero. Pacquiao could have been the underdog that ripped apart the Money mythos in Las Vegas—the crucible of so many great boxing matches.
Instead, Mayweather turned Pacquiao, for 36 minutes at least, into another frustrated, out-of-his depth prizefighter. The punch stats, per CompuBox (h/t Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix), tell the story:
Pacquiao boxed a shadow in Las Vegas, save for a few brief flashes of speed and brilliance in the middle rounds.
It's tough to see a fighter so renowned for his speed and brawler mentality reduced to an inaccurate mortal, but his performance was hardly inferior to some of the other notable names that have found Mayweather such a perplexing, beguiling opponent.
If this fight had played out this way five or so years ago, it might have been more damaging to Pacquiao. But he's 36 now, and this world has already seen the shocking image of him facedown, lights-out on the canvas after a ripping punch from Marquez in their second bout in December 2012.
The majority of Pacquiao's legend is intact. He's still one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of his generation (just not the best), an all-time great southpaw and a brilliant brawler. What happens after this fight may actually mean more to his overall legacy.
If Pacquiao fails to impress in his final few bouts, then this bout merely signaled the beginning of the long, trying end to a brilliant career. If he can pull out a few wins, it will mitigate his underwhelming performance on Saturday, as more who saw this fight will look at it as symptomatic of Mayweather's defensive strategies and unwillingness to engage.
It's best to take the long view with these things. Pacquiao's done more than enough to justify his place as one of the best—he's just not the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment