Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao will be the highest-grossing fight of all-time, and with that come expectations. Mayweather is the favorite, and his uncle Roger Mayweather said the millions of fans tuning in won't give him his just due unless he gets a knockout.
"Every time somebody talks about the fight, 'Oh, you know you're definitely going to have to knock out Pacquiao, otherwise, he (Mayweather) ain't going to get no credit,'" Roger Mayweather said. "But that's part of boxing."
Mayweather hasn't knocked anyone out since 2011, when he slugged Victor Ortiz while Ortiz was looking away from him. His last knockout before that was an 11th-round KO vs. then-undefeated British fighter Ricky Hatton in 2007.
"As good as Floyd is supposed to be, I don't think that they ... are going to give him the credit that he deserves (without a knockout)."
Pacquiao was once considered Mayweather's equal in pound-for-pound consideration, or even his superior in some circles. Pacquiao was more popular among fans because he fought aggressively and was able to register more knockouts, while Mayweather prides himself on fighting cerebrally and without taking damage.
Even though this is billed as "The Fight of the Century" Roger Mayweather believes it is far from Floyd Jr.'s biggest challenge.
"One of the guys, he had a bad record, and fought the (expletive) out of him," Roger Mayweather said of Emmanuel Augustus. "Dog tough. That's one of them guys that he wasn't willing to quit. He was a tough guy. Because a guy has a record doesn't mean he's the toughest guy.
"Floyd had to hit him to get him out of there. He hit him once, hit him twice, he still wasn't going. He's one of those guys, one of those tough guys, that he don't want to leave. But the fight was tough and I think that fight made Floyd what he is today, a good, sharp fight."
Roger Mayweather pointed to Pacquiao's knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez as evidence of Pacquiao having a potentially suspect chin that can be exploited by Floyd Mayweather Jr., even if he isn't known for stopping opponents.
"He can punch. He can box a little bit. But what I say is if Floyd comes right, he's going to go. It ain't no different with Pacquiao. But if Floyd hits him right, he's going to go. He's a tough guy but he's going to go if Floyd hits him right. It's about hitting him with the right shot at the right time. That's it.
"He (Pacquiao) may have a better chin than I say he do. But if Marquez knocked him out, I can't see nothing different."
[MLive]
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