Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Columns

Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Must Bend Opponent’s Emotions

By Ivan G. Goldman

Lots of fighters, trainers, and other experts have been doing a fine job analyzing the intricate advantages and disadvantages of each fighter in the history-making super-contest this Saturday night.

It’s Manny Pacquiao’s straight left against Floyd Mayweather’s shoulder roll, Floyd’s straight right against Manny’s vulnerable southpaw stance. And so on. And all that is fascinating.

Inevitably, we hear that it all comes down to who wants it more. That’s often true, but in this case their desire to win may be too strong to even measure. Unless there’s a rematch, which is unlikely, this will be the biggest fight of their lives, the chief standard by which their fantastic decades-long careers will be quantified.

Bernard Hopkins expects a knockdown or two because in the split-second give and take of offense, defense, and counter-offense, there will be moments when something won’t work for one of them.

At the start, the pressure is on Congressman Pacquiao, who feels the weight of the entire Philippines nation on his shoulders. In order to win, he’s got to hurt his man and then take advantage of the opportunity. But Mayweather needs only to do what he’s done his entire career — slip or blunt what’s coming at him, counter it from his lengthy list of offensive tricks, and, as usual, win more rounds.

In fact, according to Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather doesn’t even need to win all those points by himself. He merely, as old-timers like to say, needs to make it close enough to steal.

“Look,” Oscar told the Los Angeles Times, “it’s Las Vegas, Mayweather’s hometown. His picture’s on the side of the MGM. The close rounds are going to go to Mayweather. It’s big business. It’s no secret.”

la-sp-mayweather-pacquiao-news-conference-pict-012
Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao — who can impose his will?

Yes, Oscar doesn’t much like Floyd, and the feeling is mutual. But if you check the video of Floyd’s first outing against Jose Luis Castillo, you know The Golden Boy isn’t imagining anything here.

Or just check the record of the fight that almost everybody agrees Castillo won. It was April 20, 2002, MGM Grand, three lopsided scores for Mayweather were turned in by John Keane, Jerry Roth, and Anek Hongtongkam. And just to make sure everybody got the message, the Nevada commission chose Roth to score four additional Mayweather bouts and Keane one more.

You could argue that Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) gets no favors in Las Vegas, where he lost a crazily scored split decision to Timothy Bradley in their first contest and came away with only a draw against Juan Manuel Marquez in their first fight after knocking down Marquez three times in the first round.

And none of this is a secret to Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs), who is one of the best money weapons Las Vegas can bring to bear against rival Macau, which stole so many of the city’s high-rolling visitors.

You could find two other reasons Floyd wins in Las Vegas. One, he almost always deserves to win, and two, judges, who’ve never seen him lose, expect him to win. So they’re susceptible to seeing what they expect to see instead of what’s actually happening. Plenty of scientific experiments prove this phenomenon exists. Behavioral scientists even have a term for it: cognitive bias.

It’s no secret that much of the sweet science has to do with what’s in the mind – both in terms of intelligence and emotions. Each of the fighters will try to bend the emotions of the other and make him doubt his powers.

After the fight starts, Floyd will try to induce Manny to believe, at least in his subconscious, that Floyd just can’t be beat in Las Vegas, that he’s too slick and all the factors that favor him are too overwhelming.

Except there’s also this: Floyd didn’t want this fight. CBS Chairman Les Moonves had to intervene to get him to accept the largest purse in history, and it still wasn’t easy, not even with a 60-40 split in Floyd’s favor. Why? Because something in Mayweather’s mind told him no, don’t do it.

During the course of the contest, it will be up to Manny to remind Floyd just what it was that made him hesitate.

Neither fighter has an easy task ahead.

New York Times best-selling author Ivan G. Goldman’s Sick Justice: Inside the American Gulag was released in 2013 by Potomac Books. Watch for The Debtor Class: A Novel from Permanent Press in spring, 2015. More information here.

38 Comments

38 Comments

  1. Kennethmek

    11/13/2024 at 4:17 am

    rybpharm canada: buy rybelsus online usa – rybpharm

  2. LloydKnilk

    11/14/2024 at 3:55 am

    http://gabapharm.com/# buy gabapentin india

  3. DennisBlast

    11/14/2024 at 10:01 pm

    kampharm shop: buy kamagra oral jelly Kam Pharm – kamagra

  4. Bradleyboack

    11/15/2024 at 12:20 pm

    https://mexicanpharmgate.com/# buying prescription drugs in mexico

  5. Glennson

    11/15/2024 at 3:02 pm

    erectile dysfunction medication [url=http://canadiandrugsgate.com/#]Canadian pharmacy best prices[/url] ed dysfunction

  6. Bradleyboack

    11/16/2024 at 12:31 am

    http://indianpharmacyeasy.com/# world pharmacy india

  7. LarryMex

    11/16/2024 at 2:57 am

    medicine in mexico pharmacies: MexicanPharmGate – mexican border pharmacies shipping to usa

  8. Jamiewrats

    11/16/2024 at 7:04 am

  9. Glennson

    11/16/2024 at 8:43 am

    cheap medication [url=https://canadiandrugsgate.com/#]Canadian pharmacy best prices[/url] pain medications without a prescription

  10. Bradleyboack

    11/16/2024 at 11:21 am

    http://indianpharmacyeasy.com/# india pharmacy mail order

  11. LarryMex

    11/16/2024 at 5:25 pm

    п»їlegitimate online pharmacies india: Online Indian pharmacy – top 10 pharmacies in india

  12. Bradleyboack

    11/16/2024 at 9:20 pm

    http://indianpharmacyeasy.com/# reputable indian pharmacies

  13. Glennson

    11/17/2024 at 12:03 am

    indian pharmacy online [url=http://indianpharmacyeasy.com/#]indian pharmacy easy[/url] best online pharmacy india

  14. Bradleyboack

    11/17/2024 at 7:33 am

    https://canadiandrugsgate.com/# ed medications over the counter

  15. Glennson

    11/17/2024 at 2:39 pm

    mexico drug stores pharmacies [url=https://mexicanpharmgate.com/#]mexico pharmacy[/url] buying prescription drugs in mexico

  16. Bradleyboack

    11/17/2024 at 5:13 pm

    https://mexicanpharmgate.com/# mexican rx online

  17. LarryMex

    11/17/2024 at 8:58 pm

    world pharmacy india: indian pharmacy – india pharmacy mail order

  18. ShaunFab

    11/17/2024 at 10:46 pm

    erection pills https://canadiandrugsgate.com/# cialis without doctor prescription
    mens ed

  19. StevenDuamb

    11/18/2024 at 4:49 am

    dapoxetine price: Priligy tablets – priligy max pharm

  20. Danielbal

    11/18/2024 at 9:11 am

    amoxicillin canada price https://clomidrexpharm.com/# can i order generic clomid tablets

  21. StevenDuamb

    11/18/2024 at 3:30 pm

    where to get clomid prices: clomid purchase online rex pharm – get generic clomid no prescription

  22. Danielbal

    11/18/2024 at 5:49 pm

    amoxicillin 875 mg tablet http://priligymaxpharm.com/# priligy maxpharm

  23. Bradleyboack

    11/18/2024 at 11:02 pm

    can you buy generic clomid price [url=http://clomidrexpharm.com/#]clomid online[/url] where to get generic clomid without prescription

  24. Brandenbor

    11/19/2024 at 12:57 am

    amoxicillin 500 mg purchase without prescription: amoxil – generic amoxil 500 mg

  25. StevenDuamb

    11/19/2024 at 3:05 am

    buy dapoxetine online: Priligy tablets – dapoxetine price

  26. Danielbal

    11/19/2024 at 3:57 am

    amoxicillin 500 mg tablet http://prednisoneraypharm.com/# 1 mg prednisone cost

  27. Bradleyboack

    11/19/2024 at 9:55 am

    get clomid [url=http://clomidrexpharm.com/#]rex pharm[/url] can i purchase cheap clomid without insurance

  28. Brandenbor

    11/19/2024 at 12:00 pm

    generic prednisone for sale: order Prednisone – prednisone without rx

  29. StevenDuamb

    11/19/2024 at 1:53 pm

    amoxicillin 500 mg purchase without prescription: Com Pharm – canadian pharmacy amoxicillin

  30. Brandenbor

    11/19/2024 at 10:54 pm

    where can i get cheap clomid for sale: rexpharm – where buy cheap clomid pill

  31. StevenDuamb

    11/20/2024 at 12:15 am

    cost of generic clomid without insurance: clomid online – cost of clomid no prescription

  32. Brandenbor

    11/20/2024 at 8:01 am

    Priligy tablets: priligy max pharm – cheap priligy

  33. StevenDuamb

    11/20/2024 at 9:06 am

    buy priligy: buy priligy max pharm – buy dapoxetine online

  34. StevenDuamb

    11/20/2024 at 7:18 pm

    where to buy prednisone in canada: raypharm – prednisone 20mg price in india

  35. StevenDuamb

    11/21/2024 at 6:13 am

    buying generic clomid without insurance: clomid – buy clomid

  36. DarrenSpeek

    11/21/2024 at 12:09 pm

    https://iverfast.com/# ivermectin 9 mg tablet

  37. Albertjoibe

    11/21/2024 at 3:43 pm

    Plavix generic price: Clopidogrel Best Prices – generic plavix

  38. Davidabono

    11/21/2024 at 4:13 pm

    medication from mexico pharmacy https://mexicanpharmgate.com/ mexican online pharmacies prescription drugs

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Featured 2

what’s it all mean? By: Sean Crose Sixty million. Households. Not individuals. Households. Sixty million. That’s the number of homes that tuned in for...

Featured 2

By: Sean Crose No doubt you have either heard about – or have actually experienced – the faulty live stream Netflix provided for last...

Featured 2

By: Sean Crose It’s one of those fights fans want to see immediately – but the powers that be may will marinate it indefinitely....