Oscar De La Hoya believes he knows who would have won if Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao fought during their prime.
‘Money’ Mayweather and Pacquiao finally locked horns in what was billed as ‘The Fight Of The Century’ back in 2015, although many fans and pundits believed that the fight took place many years after it should have.
After what was an underwhelming 12-round contest, Mayweather was declared the winner via unanimous decision to retain his WBC and WBO welterweight titles, as well as capturing ‘Pac-Man’s WBO crown to extend his unbeaten record to 48-0.
One fighter who is familiar with both Mayweather and Pacquiao is retired six-weight world champion De La Hoya, who suffered defeats at the hands of both men during his storied career.
Speaking to Club Shay Shay, ‘The Golden Boy’ made no mistake in predicting the outcome of a showdown between the boxing legends if they had faced eachother during their respective primes.
“Let’s just say it probably would have been a controversial decision. You know, like a closer fight. But I still think that Floyd probably would have pulled it off, I really do think so.
“Pacquiao at the time when he was coming up when I fought him, he was literally a Pac-Man, he was just chomping at me like there’s no tomorrow, he wouldn’t stop throwing punches. That Pacquiao probably gives Mayweather a better fight.”
“At their peak, yeah I still think Floyd would’ve won the fight.”
De La Hoya lost his WBC light middleweight title to Mayweather when they clashed back in 2007, falling short in a split decision to ‘Money’ in a bout that was billed ‘The World Awaits’.
Just over 18-months later, in his 45th and final career outing, ‘The Golden Boy’ was stopped out in the eighth round of his clash with Pacquiao, drawing the curtain on his glittering career shortly after.
