As is often the case with super-fights, when Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao finally met in 2015, it was widely regarded as a bout that came too late.
Both were multi-weight world champions and the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, but they likely met five years past their peak. The spectacle failed to live up to years of anticipation and has largely faded from memory. Mayweather was a clear and deserving winner, adding a third welterweight world title to his collection.
Boxing’s fondness for hindsight often fuels debate, and Oscar De La Hoya — who fought and lost to both Mayweather and Pacquiao — was asked on Club Shay Shay what might have happened had the pair met closer to their prime.
“Let’s just say it would have probably been a controversial decision — closer fight, but I still think Floyd probably would have pulled it off.
“Pacquiao at the time — when he was coming up, when I fought him — 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.”
Pacquiao rebounded from the loss to win world titles at welterweight and super-welterweight. And next year he may get the chance to avenge the defeat, with reports suggesting the two could meet again.
