Mayweather must halt Juan Ma to match Pacquiao's Greatest Hits

Manny Pacquaio has had two “statement” fights in succession. By putting first Oscar De La Hoya through a meatgrinder and then quickly pulverizing Ricky Hatton, Pacman punctuated his statements with exclamation points.

Now, as he goes into the ring July 18 as a prohibitive 4-1 betting favorite over small lightweight Juan Manuel Marquez, how can unbeaten and former Pound For Pound Ring King Floyd Mayweather make his own got to pay attention to this statement?

By doing something which does not come naturally to the slick and evasive boxer, that’s what.

Mayweather is programmed like a thermostat always set at 55 degrees. He is programmed to win rounds by using his tremendous hand and foot speed. Many fighters mouth the platitude but PBF is truly a guy who doesn’t go “looking for the knockout.”

The American fighter who has been eclipsed in his absence by the Pinoy Idol can only get the world to sit up and take notice if he can stop or otherwise knock the Mexican ringmaster out.

Winning a unanimous decision, even if by six or seven points on all three scorecards, won’t be enough to bring back some of the Mayweather Magic that was erased during his short retirement.

Mayweather needs to provide a thrill or two. Mayweather needs to put Juan Ma on his back not necessarily the four times that Pacman did (including three in an opening round) in two bouts but he must show he can hurt this guy.

I take the position that we should ignore all the blather from both sides because, probably next spring, we will see the inevitable Mayweather-Pacquiao mega bout.

Aha, there’s something symbolic of how Packy has used PBF’s time away from the ring to burnish his shining star.

If it was before the demolitions of Oscar and Ricky, I am sure I’d have written that in reverse and called it the Pacquiao-Mayweather mega bout.

But now Pacman deserves and gets top billing just like he did recently when he warbled a few of his tunes in the Conga Room in Los Angeles. Dig that boss chapeau Packy is rocking, very Rat Packish I would say. On second thought, more Kid Rockish really.

Yes, he did stop Hatton in 10 rounds but then you have to reach back on Mayweather’s resume to his back to back TKO 6 victories over lesser lights Arturo Gatti and Sharmba Mitchell to find PBF stoppages.

Juan Ma only has four losses and one draw on the debit side of his 50-4-1 (37 KOs) glittering resume.

Southpaw Freddie Norwood outpointed him and lefty Pacquiao battled to a draw and a split decision victory. In a crazy bit of business, JMM also went all the way to Indonesia to lose to tough guy Chris John. His first loss goes back to his pro debut in 1993, a DQ 1, so that can be ignored.

It’s hard to imagine the Mayweather who went the full 12 rounds in beating Zab Judah and Carlos Baldomir, neither of whom have the counterpunching skills and deep-seated resolve of Marquez, beating Pacman’s archrival within the limit.

I know another thing and that, despite how one-sided this bout may become, Marquez will never quit trying.

There’s a glow around Pacquiao based on two stellar results and only a Mayweather shocker, a KO or TKO over Marquez, can dim it.

If Floyd can’t turn out Juan Ma’s lights, the party at Pacquiao World will roll on.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-5699-NY-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m5d19-Mayweather-must-halt-Juan-Ma-to-match-Pacquiaos-Greatest-Hits