With Manny Pacquiao’s recent destruction of Chris Algieri, in which he scored six knockdowns, it has reignited the whole “Will They Wont They” scenario, regarding reigning p4p king Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather 47-0 (KO 26 – KO % 55.32) and 8 division world champion Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquaio 57-5-3 (KO 38 – KO % 59.38. To try and evaluate just how things may possibly play out between the two titans of the sport of boxing, lets take a close look at how they have fared against common opposition.

Firstly, we will access how both boxers got the win over ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya.

Mayweather notched a controversial split decision on the scorecards against ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya, back in 2007. Many had the fight swinging in favor of De La Hoya by a round, some had it as a draw and on the flip side many awarded the bout to Mayweather. It certainly was a close fight and the scoring in such a close fight is highly subjective. You could honestly not argue with the verdict going to either boxer by a round or two, because it was that close a fight and tricky to score.

Oscar De La Hoya was very strong in the opening exchanges and was the clear leader in the early portion of the contest. Floyd Mayweather — as Mayweather so frequently does — started to take over as he made his adjustments and started to dominate De La Hoya, as the fight wore on. “I thought I landed crisper punches,” said a clearly downcast De La Hoya. “I am the champion and you’ve got to do more than that to beat the champion.”

Oscar certainly threw a barrage of shots towards Mayweather. ‘Money’ did manage to slip many of them, but not all. There were some quality body shots landed by De La Hoya.

Scorecards after twelve rounds.
Judge: Chuck Giampa 116-112 | Judge: Jerry Roth 115-113 | Judge: Tom Kaczmarek 113-115.

Pacquiao, in 2008, secured a TKO victory over De La Hoya, with the former Olympic gold medalist sitting on his stool at the end of the eighth round. The doctor called a halt to proceedings for damage sustained to the De La Hoya left eye. Pacquiao destroyed what was left of De La Hoya and sent ‘Golden Boy’ into retirement. This was to be Oscar De La Hoya’s final bout. He would not come out of retirement.

Rumors of Oscar being weight drained seemed to be evident as ‘Pacman’ trainer, Freddie Roach, said he noticed track marks on De La Hoya’s arms, as the fighters came to the center of the ring for instructions from the referee. Freddie Roach explained to the camera he seen IV marks, meaning that De La Hoya tried to rehydrate himself the night before the fight. Dropping the weight would have clearly taken a lot out of Oscar and even more so in the twilight of his career.

De La Hoya said of the loss against Pacquiao; “He’s just a great fighter. I have nothing bad to say about him, he prepared like a true champion,” De La Hoya continued. “I just don’t have it any more. My heart still wants to fight, but when you physically can’t respond, what can you do?”

Scores at the time of the stoppage.
Judge: Dave Moretti 80-71 | Judge: Adalaide Byrd 80-71 | Judge: Stanley Christodoulou 79-72.

With all of that said and done, Mayweather fought De La Hoya a year and a half before Pacquiao did. Was there enough time for Oscar to decline and not to have anything left in the tank against Pacquiao? Possibly. Then again, did Mayweather fight a great version of De La Hoya himself? Probably not. Even with the rehydration issues involving De La Hoya, you would have to favor ‘Pacman.’

I lean towards Pacquiao, as to who came out on top over ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya.

1-0 Pacquiao

Next up we take a look at how both pugilists fared against Shane Mosley.

Floyd Mayweather faced off against ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley back in May 2010. ‘Money’ was seriously tested in the second round. The big punching Mosley, landed a thumping right hand on Mayweather, which caused the Michigan born fighters legs to dip. Mayweather was smart, took the clinch, weathered the storm, regained his senses and must have thought to himself “Okay, that wont be happening again” in a hurry. That proved to be the case. Floyd Mayweather went on to secure an easy unanimous victory on all scorecards.

The scores at the end of the twelve rounds.
judge: Dave Moretti 119-109 | judge: Robert Hoyle 118-110 | judge: Adalaide Byrd 119-109

Manny Pacquaio took on Shane Mosley in May 2011, a year later than Mayweather.

‘Pacman’ decked Mosley in the third round. This made Mosley aware of the power that Pacquiao possessed. Mosley would not venture anything further and essentially settled to go the distance. Pacquiao was not under any threat whatsoever for the remaining rounds. The Filipino slugger cruised to a unanimous points verdict on the scorecards.

Scorecards at the end of the contest.
Judge: Duane Ford 120-107 | Judge: Dave Moretti 120-108 | Judge: Glenn Trowbridge 119-108.

Both Mayweather and Pacquiao secured a wide unanimous points victory against Mosley. You would have to give the edge to Pacquiao, due to his knock down of Mosley in the third and Mosley rocking Mayweather in the second round. Not much else to split either man really, except those two factors.

2-0 Pacquiao

Next up we view the bouts both men have against Mexican, Juan Manuel ‘Dinamita’ Marquez.

Mayweather came back from a long lay off to face Marquez. Floyd Mayweather actually retired after his bout against Ricky Hatton back in 2007. The fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, was Floyd’s first in the ring action in over two years.

Marquez had never before fought above 135 lbs and had fought at 130 lbs as recently as March 2008. Mayweather had campaigned at 147 lbs since 2005. A catchweight bout was agreed.

The fight was scheduled to take place at an agreed upon weight of 144 lbs. Marquez weighed in at 142 lbs, while Mayweather tipped the scales at 146 lbs, two pounds over the agreed limit. Floyd Mayweather didn’t seem to be the bigger man when the fighters both weighed in but come fight night, Mayweather seemed significantly the larger man. ‘Money’ pretty much totally outclassed ‘Dinamita’ in the ring and claimed a landslide victory on the scorecards. Mayweather even had Marquez on the canvas once, in round four.

After Mayweather’s self imposed lay off/retirement, Floyd looked just as good as he had previously, in his fight against Englishman, Ricky Hatton. Marquez was of course a man who was two weight classes below Mayweather at the time of the fight.

Scorecards for the bout.
Judge: Burt A. Clements 120-107 | Judge: Dave Moretti 119-108 | Judge: Bill Lerch 118-109.

Manny Pacquiao, has faced Juan Manuel Marquez, four times.

Pacquiao vs Marquez I.

In the first encounter between the two warriors, Pacquiao sent Marquez to the canvas three times in the opening round. Marquez outboxed Pacquiao for the remainder of the bout which ended in a controversial, split-decision draw.

The final scores were 115–110 for Marquez, 115–110 for Pacquiao and 113–113.

Judge Burt A. Clements (who scored the bout 113–113) later admitted to making an error on the scorecards, because he had scored the first round as 10–7 in favor of Pacquiao, instead of the standard 10–6 for a three-knockdown round. So Pacquiao by rights should have claimed a split decision victory, had the error not been made.

Scorecards for the bout.
Judge: John Stewart 115-110 | Judge: Burt A. Clements 113-113 | Judge: Guy Jutras 110-115.

Pacquiao vs Marquez II.

The highly anticipated rematch between the two men took place in March 2008. The fight was billed as “Unfinished Business.”

As the fight unfolded, Marquez landed the most punches at a higher percentage, however, the decisive factor proved to be a third-round knockdown, in which Marquez was dropped by a Pacquiao left hook. Manny Pacquiao edged a split decision win on the scorecards. The decision was once again viewed as controversial by the public, with most pundits and fans scoring the fight to Marquez.

Scorecards.
Judge: Duane Ford 115-112 | Judge: Jerry Roth 112-115 | Judge: Tom Miller 114-113.

Pacquiao vs Marquez III

With the two previous bouts between Pacquiao and Marquez being very nip and tuck, the fight fans and no doubt Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, will have wanted a true conclusion to the affair to be finally settled, once and for all.

A lot of fight fans had Marquez winning the previous two contests. The trilogy was always going to take place. The bout marked the second time Marquez jumped from Lightweight to Welterweight (a catchweight of 144 lbs.)

According to Compubox, Marquez was outlanded by Pacquiao on an average of 3 punches per round (14 to 11 punches landed). Pacquiao also unleashed 142 punches more than Marquez and landed 38 more punches, connecting at a higher percentage rate in power shots than Marquez. Although Marquez landed at a higher rate in jabs, the Mexican was out landed 59 to 38.

Even though Pacquiao won a close majority decision, Marquez’s fans in the audience believed ‘Dinamita’ had won the fight. Items were hurled into the ring among a cacophony of boos. Marquez and trainer Nacho Beristain were sure they had been part of another robbery at the hands of Pacquiao. They left the ring in protest as the decision was announced. The pair did not want to hang around for any post fight interviews or any photos. So, after three contests, there was still no clear winner in the eyes of the fight fans.

Scorecards.
judge: Dave Moretti 113-115 | Judge: Robert Hoyle 114-114 | Judge: Glenn Trowbridge 112-116.

Pacquiao vs Marquez IV.

The first two rounds were very close, neither man landing anything significant aside from a Pacquiao right hook. You would have to give the first two rounds to Manny Pacquiao. In the third round, Marquez landed an array of left hooks to the body from distance, attempting to negate Pacquiao’s movement. The plan from Marquez paid off instantly as Marquez feinted again to the body, before landing a looping overhand right that dropped Pacquiao for the first time in their four fights. Pacquiao beat the count but was reluctant to engage for the remainder of the round.

Freddie Roach reprimanded his fighter between rounds to duck under the overhand right, instead of pulling away, as Pacquiao backed off from the knockdown punch. Pacquiao came out in the fourth round having recovered from the knockdown. Manny spent most of the round looking for his shots, with little joy. Marquez however, struck a vast amount of signature right hand counters, banking ‘Dinamita’ the round.

Round five — Ring Magazine’s ‘Round of the Year’ — began with Pacquiao landing several solid left hands. Pacquiao then floored Marquez with a straight left hand. Marquez beat the count and replied with a huge straight right on the chin that staggered Pacquiao. In the final minute of the round, both men exchanged blows before Pacquiao landed several unanswered punches, the main shot being a right hook that buckled Marquez’s knees and severely broke the Mexicans nose. A very bloodied Marquez stayed away from the Filipino slugger for the remainder of the round. A smart move at this stage. ‘Pacman’ seemed angry.

The sixth round started with Pacquiao, catching Marquez numerous times. The round was coming to a close with the face of Marquez worse for ware, extremely bloodied. Pacquiao backed Marquez against the ropes and threw a double jab, Marquez ducked under the second jab and unleashed a ‘Hail Mary’ overhand right that sent Manny Pacquiao crashing to the canvas, face first. Pacquiao remained motionless as Kenny Bayless went over to start the count. Bayless soon realized that Pacquiao was not getting up and he waved the fight off.

Marquez celebrated wildly, running around the ring and leaping onto the ropes in the corner, exclaiming his joy to the fans. Both men were highly complimentary of each other after the bell, which was great sign of sportsmanship.

Scores at time of the stoppage.
Judge: Adalaide Byrd 46-47 | Judge: Steve Weisfeld 46-47 | Judge: John Keane 46-47.

Will we see the fifth installment of this epic tussle? With everything taken into account with Manny’s four battles and Floyd’s one encounter with Juan Manuel Marquez, even without the knockout victory for Marquez, it’s clear to all that Pacquaio struggled to decisively claim a true victory over Marquez. Mayweather easily dealt with Marquez, although the Mexican had jumped up two weight classes to face ‘Money.’ You would have to give Mayweather the edge.

2-1 Pacquiao

After three common opponents, Manny Pacquiao has pulled into the lead, but there are still 2 more fighters left to compare and decide who would come up on top in this long awaited super fight.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 of Pacquiao-Mayweather: Who wins the super fight based on common opposition