Five common foes provide clue on who’s better
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. show five common opponents in their fight records. A review of how they did against Oscar de la Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton could provide a clue as to who’s the bette
De la Hoya. Mayweather had first crack at the Golden Boy in 2007 and their duel is still the record holder for most pay-per-view hits at 2.4 million. The fight was close with Mayweather coming out on top to wrest the WBC superwelterweight crown via a split 12-round decision. A year later, Pacquiao took on De la Hoya who surrendered in his stool at the end of eight stanzas. De la Hoya never fought again.
De la Hoya weighed in at 154 pounds and Mayweather, 150. The purses were $58 Million for the Golden Boy and $25 Million for Mayweather. Referee was Kenny Bayless who will work the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout this weekend. The judges scores were 116-112 and 115-113 for Mayweather and 115-113 for De la Hoya. In the early rounds, De la Hoya tried to cut the ring off on Mayweather who was in constant motion. De la Hoya attacked Mayweather’s midsection to slow him down but couldn’t find the range consistently. Mayweather proved too elusive. De la Hoya pushed Mayweather towards the ropes to pin him down. That, too, didn’t work. Mayweather’s defense held up and down the stretch, he pounded De la Hoya almost at will. Mayweather landed 207 punches to De la Hoya’s 122. Mayweather’s connect rate was 43 percent and De la Hoya’s only 21.
Pacquiao and De la Hoya met at a catchweight of 145 pounds. When the fight began, someone noticed I.V. marks on De la Hoya’s arm. He probably had an infusion of dextrose to counter dehydration from making the weight. De la Hoya tipped the scales at 145 while Pacquiao checked in at 142. Pacquiao was in control of the fight from the onset. When De la Hoya surrendered, Pacquiao led on the three judges scorecards, 80-71, 80-71, 79-72. Pacquiao landed 38 percent of his blows compared to De la Hoya’s 21. The fight drew 1.25 million pay-per-view subscriptions with De la Hoya guaranteed a purse of $20 Million and Pacquiao $6 Million.
Mosley. Mayweather was staggered by a pair of right hands in the second round but recovered to win by a unanimous 12-round decision. The judges scores were 119-109, 118-110 and 119-109 to reflect how one-sided it was despite Mayweather’s problem in the second canto. Mosley hadn’t fought in over a year, 461 days to be exact, when he battled Mayweather with a pay-per-view audience of 1.4 million. Mayweather’s landing rate was 44 percent to Mosley’s 20.
Pacquiao took on Mosley a year later. Bayless was the referee who made a mistake in counting a knockdown against Pacquiao in the first round after a trip by Mosley. Bayless later apologized to Pacquiao for the error. It was Pacquiao who was credited for the only legitimate knockdown in the bout with Mosley tumbling down in the third. Mosley was clearly intimidated by Pacquiao’s power and after the trip to the canvas, went on survival mode, refusing to engage. Pacquiao won by a unanimous decision on scores of 120-107, 120-108 and 119-108.
Mosley exposed Mayweather’s vulnerability to the right hand. Mayweather was more aggressive than usual in the late going particularly when Mosley slowed down, hampered by fatigue. Against Pacquiao, Mosley never landed a meaningful power shot.
Marquez. Mayweather’s size was evident in his domination of Marquez in their 2009 fight. Coming off a two-year layoff, Mayweather was too strong and too big for the Mexican who was dropped in the second round. Marquez weighed in at 142 pounds and it was his first fight where he scaled more than 135. Mayweather weighed in at 146, two over the catchweight limit of 144, for the fight that had 1.06 million pay-per-view hits. For being overweight, Mayweather paid Marquez a penalty fee of $600,000. The disparity in connect rates was glaring as Mayweather landed 59 percent and Marquez only 12. Mayweather won by a unanimous decision on scores of 120-107, 119-108 and 118-109. The purses were $10 Million for Mayweather and $3.2 Million for Marquez.
Pacquiao and Marquez figured in four fights. They fought to a split draw in 2004. Pacquiao should’ve won by a split decision but judge Burt Clements erred in scoring the first round 10-7 instead of 10-6 with Marquez suffering three knockdowns. Clements was never again assigned to judge a Pacquiao fight until this weekend. In 2008, they fought in a rematch with Pacquiao winning a split decision. In 2011, they fought in a third bout with Pacquiao scoring a majority decision. In 2013, they met in a fourth encounter with Marquez scoring a sixth round knockout.
Marquez was behind, 47-46, on three identical judges scorecards when the knockout came. At that point, Pacquiao had a landing rate of 37 percent and Marquez 21. They exchanged knockdowns before the final blow. The last two Pacquiao-Marquez bouts averaged 1.2 million pay-per-view buys.
Cotto. Pacquiao destroyed Cotto in 2009, scoring two knockdowns en route to a 12th round stoppage with Bayless the referee. Pacquiao was ahead in the judges scorecards, 109-99, 108-99 and 108-100 at the time of the stoppage. Pacquiao landed 43 percent and Cotto 29 in the fight that had 1.25 million pay-per-view hits. Cotto weighed in at 145 and Pacquiao 144. The catchweight limit was 145. The purses were $22 Million for Pacquiao and $12 Million for Cotto. The sharing was 65-35 for Pacquiao in the pay-per-view revenues. Pacquiao hasn’t registered a knockout since disposing of Cotto.
Mayweather dethroned Cotto as WBA superwelterweight champion with a unanimous 12-round decision in 2012. It wasn’t an easy fight as Mayweather landed only 26 percent and Cotto 21. Mayweather’s purse was $32 Million and the fight drew 1.5 million pay-per-view hits. Mayweather controlled the action from the center of the ring and avoided the ropes. An uppercut stunned Cotto in the final round as Mayweather won with scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111.
Hatton. It took Mayweather 10 rounds to halt Hatton in 2007. Two years later, Hatton was poleaxed by Pacquiao in two. Hatton was unbeaten when he battled Mayweather who demonstrated a clinical destruction of the Hitman. Mayweather’s purse was $25 Million and Hatton, $10 Million. Hatton couldn’t dodge the bullets from Mayweather’s weapons and fell twice on left hooks before referee Joe Cortez stepped in. Hatton tired himself out chasing Mayweather down and had nothing left when the end came. Mayweather led on the three judges scorecards, 88-82, 89-81 and 89-81. The fight drew 920,000 pay-per-view hits.
Pacquiao had no difficulty putting Hatton to sleep. Hatton was tailor-made for Pacquiao, a come-forward brawler with no style. Pacquiao picked him apart with precision power punching. Hatton never had a chance. Pacquiao was guaranteed $12 Million and a 52-48 split of the revenues while Hatton received $8 Million. The pay-per-view buys were 825,000. Pacquiao landed 57 percent and Hatton 23 percent. Mayweather connected 39 percent and Hatton 17 in their bout.
Combining the stats of the five common opponents, Mayweather connected 42.2 percent and took only 18.2 percent. Pacquiao landed 41.2 percent and was hit 22.8 percent. Before Mayweather’s two fights against Marcos Maidana, he posted an average connect rate of 42.3 percent over his last 10 opponents from Zab Judah to Saul Alvarez. His 10 opponents landed an average of only 18.1 percent, indicating how difficult it is to hit Mayweather.