As Nestor Gibbs of thaboxingvoice.com scoured the ringside seats during a recent boxing event he stumbled upon the former multiple-time world light-middleweight champion Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright, and the conversation inevitably turned towards what is sure to become the biggest fight in history should it happen; Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Manny Pacquiao.
Wright finished his career with a commendable 51-6 (25 KOs) record, having brought his tricky southpaw style over to Europe to gain momentum in the early part of his pro campaign as he struggled to get fights in the United States. He then returned home more frequently during the latter stages of his career once he had consistently proven his worth by outclassing the vast majority of the men he faced with his silky skills. It makes sense then that he now backs the fighter he sees as the most skilful in this proposed match-up.
“I gotta go with Mayweather but I also think it’s gonna be a great fight. Manny, you can never count him out out, and you know he throws punches from all directions and all everywhere but you know, Mayweather’s just so sharp and so precise with his punches that you know, I’m thinking he’ll be able to keep Manny off him and box him.”
So, he believes that it will be a case in which the skills of Mayweather will be enough to tame the unpredictability of Pacquiao’s attacks. It’s difficult to argue with that logic. This is a view echoed by many.
Wright then gave his opinion as to whether Mayweather needs to make this super-fight with Pacquiao in order to maintain his tradition of fighting on the weekend of May 2nd as he has for the last few years. This lucrative date, which Mayweather has jealously guarded by facing Hispanic fighters on a Mexican holiday, is at risk of being stolen away by the boy-who-would-be-king, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Canelo hopes to achieve this by going up against Puerto Rico’s four-weight world champion Miguel Cotto on that date, though the fight has not been confirmed as of yet.
“I do think so. I think Floyd will have to give them a test so the people wanna come see that fight because like you said, if Canelo and them fight on that night, that’s the fight I think that, especially out there on the west coast, they’re gonna come and see.”
He’s accurate in saying Mayweather must provide an opponent who at least presents the illusion of a threat to his own dominance to keep hold of his coveted date, but it doesn’t have to be Pacquiao. Not yet anyway. Mayweather could conceivably steal away Miguel Cotto from under Canelo’s nose for a rematch between the two in May, before going on to face Pacquiao in the summer for what could be his fiftieth straight victory. This would simultaneously disparage Canelo’s power play, ensure two major paydays instead of one, and mean he could make it to a half-century undefeated with the mega-match-up against Pacquiao.
