5 Reasons You Want Manny Pacquiao To Beat Floyd Mayweather In The Big Fight

Floyd Mayweather Jr., center left, and Manny Pacquiao pose during their weigh-in on Friday, May 1 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

It’s here. The biggest fight since boxing’s halcyon days of Ali-Frazier takes place tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight is being jointly produced by HBO and Showtime and is a pay-per-view event (priced at a record $89.95 per view in standard-def and $99.95 in HD). The undercard starts at 9 p.m. ET with the main event between Mayweather and Pacquiao starting somewhere around 11:30 p.m. ET.

But here’s the thing: you want Manny Pacquiao to beat Mayweather. The fight can go the distance, but all things being equal you should hope Mayweather gets beat. Here’s why:

Mayweather Has A Documented History Of Domestic Abuse

While the world was aghast at Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and his brutal attack on Janay Palmer, who he subsequently married, the fact is that Floyd Mayweather has a documented history of not just one, but seven cases in which he has has been arrested or issued a citation for alleged assaults on five separate women. Calling Mayweather “misogynistic” is an understatement.  Here are two  altercations with Melissa Brim, the mother of Mayweather’s daughter, as described by the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

 

The first came in February 2001 when during an argument [Mayweather] swung open a car door, hitting her jaw, pushed her into the car and punched her several times in the face and body, according to a lawsuit she later filed. After the “brutal and unprovoked attack,” Brim drove to a convenience store and called police, the lawsuit said.

Five months later, Brim was at the Boulevard Mall with her daughter when Mayweather asked whether his friend could hold the child. After the friend took the girl, Mayweather hit Brim in the neck, her lawsuit said. Mall security called the police, but Mayweather left before they arrived, the lawsuit said.

While Mayweather is going to collect an incredible sum for the fight, as a matter of sending a message, you want Pacquiao to win. Yes, it may be a “lesser of two evils” case, but since Pacquiao has recommitted himself to Christianity three years ago, he has reportedly been clean as a whistle.

While No Longer Poor, Pacquiao Came From Extreme Poverty

Manny Pacquiao could pull in as much as $120 million for the fight on Saturday and has career earnings of $335 million, ranking him second to only Mayweather, but he started off in the Philippines hungry more often than not.

As one of six children of a single mother, many nights they had only water instead of food. Boxing was a way for Pacquiao and his family to break out of poverty.

“I heard that when you fight, even when you lose, you have money,” he explained to ESPN. “And when you win, you receive 100 pesos, which is the equivalent of two dollars. If you lose, one dollar, which is 50 pesos.

“Just put the gloves there, and tape this time. I don’t know boxing. But after that fight, I get 100 pesos. One hundred pesos. I can buy one kilo of rice only four pesos. One hundred pesos, big.”

Everyone Loves An Underdog

Choose to ignore the Mayweather domestic abuse history and Pacquiao’s meager beginnings, you should root for Manny over Floyd because he’s the underdog. While he’s narrowed the gap heading into the fight, Vegas has odds of “Pac Man” winning by Decision or Technical Decision at 15/4 and Knockout at 10/1.

He Has A Legitimate Shot To Win

While many veteran boxing analysts predict Mayweather will win the fight, there’s reason to believe that Pacquiao has a shot at an upset. For one, he beat Oscar De La Hoya in 2008, and De La Hoya gave Mayweather a serious run for his money for six rounds before conditioning got the better of him. In terms of how this fight will go, Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach summed up it this way when talking to Yahoo! Sports.

“You know, it’s a tough fight for Manny, a real tough fight,” Roach said. “This isn’t going to be easy. We know that. But anyone who says Manny doesn’t have a chance is full of it. He’s had a great camp. A great camp.”

An Upset Could Fuel A Comeback For Boxing

The match is a massive financial windfall for all parties involved. Forbes has gone through the insane numbers: the increase of the fighters’ purses to this apex, the fact that it’s PPV’s first billion-dollar match, and that Pacqiao’s earnings will blow by the $400 million mark. But an upset would take us back to the kind of excitement of the days of Ali-Frazier and when a brash young Cassius Clay “shocked the world” and beat Sonny Liston. Boxing is slowly seeing increased interest, as evinced by NBC Sports’ national broadcasts of matches. If Pacquiao were to win the fight, it would create the kind buzz that would ripple for months, if not years.