Former world middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins is predicting that Floyd Mayweather Jr. would win over Manny Pacquiao during their May 2 mega-fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
However, his prediction comes with a rather unsavory after-thought as he is actually forecasting that Money would win over the Pacman via a controversial decision.
Putting the word controversial on the predicted victory, Hopkins was actually saying that Floyd can win the fight via the judges’ decision but not in the ring.
This also means that Hopkins thinks that Pacquiao can win the real fight on the ring but can actually lose the fight on the judges’ scorecards, which means that he thinks the Filipino boxing icon can overwhelm the pound-for-pound king.
First six rounds will be crucial
Hopkins said that the first six rounds of the contest would be crucial for Mayweather in particular. He said that Pacquiao will come to the fight as himself and he will be throwing those rapid punches and in succession.
The outspoken boxer also said that Pacquiao is nothing like Miguel Cotto, Marcos Maidana, or Ricky Hatton, who wait for the right opening before throwing those punches. All of them fell victim to Mayweather because that has been the style of play of the pound-for-pound king and if pitted against similar-styled opponent, he normally comes out victorious.
But the Pacman is a bull that attacks from the get-go. He is not the type who shall wait for the right opening because he will throw as many punches as possible. When the opponent starts defending and become confused on which assaults to parry, that’s when Pacquiao gets even more dangerous.
Hopkins believes that if Mayweather wants to make it to the last six rounds, where he would probably have an edge on the tiring Pacquiao by then, he has to make the adjustments and survived the first six rounds, where the Pacman would be blazing hot.
The former middleweight champion said that Mayweather should come up with a plan to make Pacquiao think before he reacts.
Lost to Marquez does not count
Hopkins also says that Mayweather or his camp should not even entertain the notion that they might get lucky and knocked out Pacquiao with one punch the way Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez did in December 2012.
He said that the one-punch lost to Marquez does not count. He explained that it was merely a lucky punch because Pacquiao just jumped in at the wrong time. Hopkins also believes that the Pacman has gotten over his knockout lost to the Mexican.
Hopkins said that for a boxer, it is easier to forget losing by one lucky punch than being overwhelmed in most, if not all, of the 12 rounds of the fight. He said the real good boxers can recover from a one-shot knockout because it simply does not kill them. He added that it’s being dominated during a match that lasts on the mind.
Lot’s of Money involved here. Both fighters will come out of this fight winners $$$$. Money get’s the lion share but Pacman becomes an ungodly billionaire in his homeland. Nothing wrong with that. Their body of work speaks for itself. Looking at the odds right now, Manny is closing the gap. I think it may get even closer at fight time.
Hopkins talk is like the odds, his initial thinking is Money is going to win easy. First odds came out Money -300 vs Manny +250. Hokpins backtracks a little and says He needs to be careful and have a plan. Now Odds is like Money -200 vs Pacman +180. Like Hopkins says, Manny is not Cotto, Marquez, Hattton, or Madaina. Manny is a machine. The only thing I disagree with on what Hopkins said is about Mannys stamina. Again. Manny is a machine. Gears running at full speed. Money has the stamina as well so I think it will be a great fight.
So don’t pay attention to people saying Money is going to kick Pacman ass easily, or Pacman is going to KO Money in the nth round. This is a great match-up. A great tactician vs a machine. I’ll be in Vegas and I’m sure there is going to be alot of smack from everyone but I only respect those who could back their smack with a very large bet.