Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr: Who would you rather Be?

There is a recent song out by the band "Metric" called "Gimme Sympathy." It's a solid song in which during the lyrics the question is asked: by lead singer (pictured to the right), Emily Haines: "Who would you rather be... The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?" Oh Seriously, what a great question! To me, there certainly is no wrong or right answer.

Metric's song got me to thinking who would I rather be, Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr.? Of course I am happy with who I am, and I truly wish to be nobody but me... but hypothetically, if I was a boxer, what kind of boxer/person would I'd rather be a copy of?

Unlike the question regarding the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the question of Pacquiao or Mayweather is much easier for me to answer.

First I want to stress that both fighters are super amazing inside the ring. They both have rights to claiming the top spot in the Pound for Pound list. I admire both of them for there work efforts inside the ring. They both come from poor surroundings and against all odds made it to the top. You can't go wrong with picking either Pacquiao or Mayweather when it comes to what they do inside the ring. There is plenty of things to admire both of them for. It's what they do outside the ring that is the total difference for me.

My opinion is that Mayweather Jr. seems to me to be a guy who follows the wrong crowd of people. I've seen him in interviews with some of his groupies. I got to tell you they scare me. They look and come off like a bunch of thugs. I recently saw an interview in which a ranting and cussing Mayweather Jr. was bragging about his super exotic cars while a bunch of his groupies were in the background raving like lunatics. And this month alone, Police are searching for one of Mayweather's associates over a shooting in which Mayweather Jr's Rolls Royce was searched by Police for possible evidence. And earlier this month Mayweather's Uncle and Trainer Roger is being accused of assault on a Female. Bottom line, the company Mayweather keeps scares the hell out of me.

Pacquiao on the other hand seems to have his head on straight outside the ring. He is a devoted family man, loves his wife, and conducts himself properly in interviews. I've never seen him in a video bragging about his money or his material items. The people around Pacquiao don't scare me. They just don't look like or act like thugs.

Perhaps the question is not who would I rather be... but who would I rather hang out with? Hands down, I'd rather hang with Pacquiao.

This isn't an article slagging Mayweather Jr. Like I said, inside the ring he is simply amazing, but his life outside the ring (at least to me) seems like a total dead end. I can understand why Pacquiao has much more people writing postive articles than Mayweather Jr. gets.

So would I rather be a copy of? Manny Pacquiao. He not only is a Champ inside the ring, but he is also a Champ outside of the ring. Our sports heroes are suppose to be people we can look up to... and that should always carry with them in the public eye, not just in the environment of the sport. They must always remember that the Children in this world look up to their sports hereos. They must lead by setting an example inside and outside of the sport.

To me, Pacquiao is the example of how a boxer should act inside and outside of the ring. I wish I could say the same for Mayweather Jr.

Source: http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Kyle/Lucas082609.htm