Who’ll win between Pacquiao and Thurman?

Who’ll win between Pacquiao and Thurman?

Who’ll win between Pacquiao and Thurman?

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Google Plus

LOS ANGELES: Filipino WBA regular welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and American super titlist Keith Thurman do battle on July 20 for the bragging right to be crowned the unified 147-pound titleholder. The fight is set at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

The “One Time” American will be making his seventh title defense and, as of the latest odds, is a -135 favorite to win. Pacquiao is the underdog +105.

The main reason for the odds, or so it seems, is Thurman’s unbeaten 29 straight record with 22 KOs as against Pacquiao’s 61-win, 7- loss. 2- draw slate with 39 stoppage.

Also taken into account is the 10-year difference in age of the combatants with Pacquiao reaching 41 and Thurman 31 in November. The super champ is taller and heftier, too, at 5-foot-9 and the regular crown holder much smaller at 5-5.

What the oddsmakers fail to take into consideration is Pacquiao’s advantage in experience having fought 70 times in his 24 years in the fight game to Thurman’s 12.

In that span the Filipino ring icon has fought the best and the brightest in eight eight divisions, emerging the only man in the universe to have done so by winning world titles in flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, junior-welterweight, welterweight and super-middleweight.

He beat such boxing greats and future Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, among others.

His victory over Margarito made him a marvel to be compared with all-time great Henry Armstrong, who simultaneously held championships inn three weight classes – 126, 135 and 147 pounds.

Manny has fought 23 world champions, coming out winner in 20, 11 of them via short route. He was named Fighter of the Year thrice by the Boxing Writers Association of America, the same body that named him Fighter of the Decade in years 2001 to 2010.

His three FoY award tied him with “The Great” Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield, both heavyweights. He earned his FoD honor over Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley, Marquez and Barrera.

The father of five with wife, Ex-Sarangani Vice Gov. Jinkee, is the first fighter to win the lineal championship in five different weight divisions and, likewise, the first in the history of sweet science to win a major title in four of of the original eight weight categories also known as the glamour divisions – flyweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.

BoxRec ranks him as the “Greatest Asian Fighter” of all-time. Pacquiao was long rated as the best active boxer in the world, pound-for-pound by most sporting news and boxing websites, including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Sporting Life, About.com, BoxRec, Yahoo Sports and The Ring. He, too, is the longest reigning top 10 active boxer on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list.

Pacquiao has held up reasonably well and is on a roll again after scoring conclusive wins over Lucas Matthysse and Adrien Broner in his last two fights. Losses to Mayweather and a controversial one to Jeff Horn took Pacquiao off the A-list. A win over an unbeaten champion in this fight would allow him to reclaim that position. Thurman, meanwhile, is ten years Manny’s junior at 30. He won his last fight against Josesito Lopez, It was his 29th straight pro win and ended a two-year layoff.

Okay, Pacquiao is 10 years older than Thurman, but isn’t the bad-mouthing American an old 30? An elbow injury contributed to his long layoff and in his comeback fight in January, he didn’t look great.

Josesito Lopez may have been inspired, but the Thurman of a few years ago wouldn’t have been pushed to such an extent, winning by only a majority decision and even getting hurt along the way.

Pacquiao might certainly be not a foolproof commodity at 40 with over two decades at the top. But he has looked pretty good lately against Matthysse and Broner. No can o deny that he’s still among the fastest fighters in the world and will have an advantage in this matchup.

With his hand and foot speed, a lot of head and upper-body movement, and fighting-spirit, too, won’t he do better than Lopez did against Thurman?

Ask former chief trainer Freddie Roach, now Pacquiao’s training consultant, and strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune and chief trainer Buboy Fernandez and they’ll tell you whom to place your money and house and lot on.