Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao co-starred in the biggest fight in boxing.
Billed The Fight of the Century, Mayweather would come out on top over the distance, scoring a unanimous decision against eight-division world champion Pacquiao.
The debate as to what may have happened should the fight happen earlier in the careers, perhaps in 2009 when first floated, continues to rage on. One man who fought and lost to both has a better insight than most.
Oscar De La Hoya suffered defeat to ‘Money’ Mayweather via split decision in 2008. After a win over Steve Forbes, he stepped through the ropes with Pacquiao. The Filipino forced a stoppage, De La Hoya deciding not to return from his stool after the eighth round and retiring from the sport post-fight.
Though ‘The Golden Boy’ gave the nod to Mayweather in the categories of footwork and boxing brain during a Best I Faced feature with the Ring Magazine, he had little doubt that Pacquiao was the best overall.
“I would have to say Pacquiao. I think his determination, his conditioning, his skill, his power, speed, footwork … he’s one of the fighters I most appreciated. Mayweather-Pacquiao would have been a lot different [if they’d fought] in their primes. Pacquiao would have beat [Mayweather] easy, absolutely.”
Both men are still on the fringes of the sport in the form of worldwide exhibition fights. Pacquiao has been considering a comeback as recently as this month, but those plans have taken a major hit as the targeted opponent, WBC Welterweight World Champion Mario Barrios, has taken another fight.
