Measuring up Mayweather and Pacquiao for the fight of the century

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, April 27, 2015 | 2:01 a.m.

The “fight of the century,” which felt like it took a century to make, finally is days away.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will settle their rivalry May 2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Here’s your chance to get reacquainted with the men who will face off in the richest match in boxing history.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR.

47-0

Knockouts: 26

Nickname: Money

Fighting out of: Las Vegas by way of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Height: 5’8” | Reach: 72 inches

Trainer: Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Titles (weight classes): 10 in five divisions (130, 135, 140, 147, 154)

Stance: Orthodox (right-handed)

Other professional endeavors: Money Team merchandising mogul, Mayweather Promotions owner, high-stakes sports bettor

Celebrity friends: Justin Bieber, David Hasselhoff, Lil’ Kim

Strength: Defense. Although many would dispute Mayweather’s claim of being the best ever, few would protest calling him one of boxing’s greatest defenders. Mayweather rarely gets hit. Opponents have landed fewer than 20 percent of the punches they’ve thrown at him, according to CompuBox. That’s the best rate CompuBox, a statistics provider, has tracked.

Best performance: Majority decision victory over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Sept, 14, 2013. In terms of prefight buzz, this was the closest to the Pacquiao bout. It was the top-grossing pay-per-view bout of all time, generating $150 million from 2.2 million buys. The betting line had Mayweather only a slight favorite, similar to the odds against Pacquiao, but Mayweather completely outclassed the previously undefeated Mexican superstar, arguably not losing a round while barely getting touched. C.J. Ross’ rendering the bout a draw was one of the most inexplicable scores in boxing history and resulted in her stepping down as a judge.

Training setback: Rumors, enhanced by reports from Pacquiao’s promoter and Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, indicated Mayweather limited sparring, at least briefly, after suffering a busted lip and bruised knuckles. Mayweather’s team has scoffed at the suggestion the bumps had any discernible impact on his preparation. But that isn’t surprising, because every fighter insists he’s having the best training camp of his career before every fight.

How he wins: Pacquiao is “reckless,” which not coincidentally is how Mayweather recently described his opponent’s style. There must be some calculation to Pacquiao’s advances, or else he’ll play right into Mayweather’s hands. Mayweather wants to lay back, use his speed to evade punches and counter when he sees openings. Pacquiao has been countered effectively in the past. Mayweather regularly reminds the media that Pacquiao’s last loss three years ago came via knockout to Juan Manuel Marquez when Pacquiao walked flush into a counter right hand.

MANNY PACQUIAO

57-5-2

Knockouts: 38

Nickname: Pacman

Fighting out of: Los Angeles by way of General Santos City, Philippines

Height: 5’6.5” | Reach: 67 inches

Trainer: Freddie Roach

Titles (weight classes): 10 in eight divisions (108, 122, 126, 130, 135, 140, 147, 154)

Stance: Southpaw (left-handed)

Other professional endeavors: Philippine congressman, Philippine Basketball Association player/coach, recording artist

Celebrity friends: Mark Wahlberg, Jimmy Kimmel, Paris Hilton

Strength: Offense. “Puncher” is the word most circulated with regards to Pacquiao’s fighting style. At his best, he smothers opponents. Easing into the fight or initiating a feeling-out process isn’t an option with Pacquiao, who likes to throw vicious combinations from the opening bell to make opponents uncomfortable. He even has thrown more than 1,000 punches on a few occasions, almost double the average output of a fighter in a championship bout.

Best performance: Referee technical decision over Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6, 2008. Pacquiao fans’ favorite talking point going into the Mayweather bout is the fighters’ respective performances against “The Golden Boy.” A year and a half after Mayweather eked out a competitive split-decision victory over De La Hoya, Pacquiao sent the all-time great into retirement. Pacquiao landed combinations at will through seven rounds before staggering De La Hoya in the eighth, which led to something unimaginable. De La Hoya and his corner threw in the towel, surrendering before the ninth round.

Training setback: Roach complained at the start of camp that Mayweather adviser Al Haymon was paying off potential sparring partners not to work with Pacquiao. Roach reported he managed to sway at least one of the rivals, giving Pacquiao a “secret” ally.

How he wins: Pacquiao rediscovers the power that allowed him to stop four consecutive opponents from mid-2008 to the end of 2009. He doesn’t have a single knockout in the past five years, and it’s unlikely the drought will end against Mayweather, who has been knocked down only once in his career. But hurting Mayweather could go a long way toward potentially stealing a decision. Mayweather takes such little damage, he’s always fresher than his opponents in the final rounds. Pacquiao needs to rough up Mayweather early to make him sloppy late.