Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao: Mayweather has the edge in fight the whole world has been waiting for

After years of doubt, the first billion-dollar contest finally happens in the early hours of Sunday morning – with Pacquiao risking another defeat

The trainers and the fighters - Floyd Mayweather Sr, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach (GETTY IMAGES)

It took a few years to happen, a few hard days to sign and in just a few hours two men will enter the MGM ring here for a prize fight that has finally stopped being about the seemingly impossible haul of a billion dollars that is one of the trophies.

Floyd Mayweather Jr will walk to the ring on Saturday to join his dance partner for the fight, Manny Pacquiao, on their padded stage. It could be a quite unbearable 10 minutes of tension before the first bell as the pair remove leather, gold and diamond robes at the same time as the two rival ring announcers jostle for centre stage.

At that point, as soon as their glistening bodies are revealed, the handlers, stragglers and tearful lunatics will clear the ring to let the first bell sound. There is not a chance anybody will hear that noise tonight when a collective roar of relief will be heard all over – that is all over the world, by the way.

LIVE: MAYWEATHER VS PACQUIAO LATEST

At that point, a moment very few inside the boxing business thought would ever happen, the two boxers will enter the unknown and their previous combined total of fights, which currently reads 111 in total, will become irrelevant. Never in the history of the fight game have two men waited so long to share the one moment when they will finally be separated by only a few feet of new canvas and protected, at that point, not by lawyers, sycophants or devoted fans, but by the referee Kenny Bayless, a normal guy making a few bucks for his hobby.

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao during their final press conference (GETTY IMAGES)

It is at that moment, the micro-second before the first punch, that real fans, which is not a slight on the millions watching all over the globe, will get butterflies – well, the wait is over, relax because they really are going to fight. The wait, you see, has been a seemingly endless, always annoying delay of years, which has been articulated by insults, threats and obfuscation from both boxers and their paid envoys.

A tiny final problem emerged yesterday and it seems that the gloves, which each boxer was free to select, remain an issue. The Pacquiao camp now want to weigh Mayweather’s gloves, Mayweather’s people are ignoring the late abbreviation to the hundreds of pages of legal documents. This fight is on, forget the scales for gloves.

At the first bell there is, I am delighted to report, a growing feeling inside the secretive Mayweather fortress that their man will not run and will make sure that Pacquiao feels his power. There has been an endless debate this week, kept foul-mouthed, personal and relevant by the two trainers, about the respective boxers’ strength; the two men in charge, Floyd Sr with his son and Freddie Roach, in his 12th year with Pacquiao, insist that the other fighter has no power. It is an odd and, trust me, heartfelt belief from both seasoned men.

Floyd Mayweather Sr responds to a reporter's question

Pacquiao, who is two years younger at 36, has been open about his tactics and Roach, who closed the doors on his Wildcard gym in Hollywood’s sleazier section, had his tiny fighter spar far from the curious looks of the sly agents that all boxers have used over the years. “We have worked on a few things and that includes a fast start,” confirmed Roach.

Listening to Roach this week – listening in close in a small cluster – it is obvious that he truly believes that Mayweather’s legs are in decline and that inevitably his fighter’s relentless style will take a fearsome toll. “I keep hearing that Floyd is more entertaining now, but that is bullshit – he can’t move his legs, that is why he is trapped on the ropes more now and that is why Manny will get to him,” Roach insisted.

Boxing can slowly ruin even the purest of fighters and Mayweather has brilliantly avoided unnecessary conflict during his unbeaten career of 47 fights, which includes 18 years of world title fights and championship belts at five different weights.

He is, however, a normal human and his timing, movement and reflexes have diminished. He compensates for the loss by taking a few extra risks, including spending a bit more time on the ropes – think an ageing Muhammad Ali in Zaire against George Foreman in the Seventies when he used the ropes to rest and avoid getting hit – and that is where a younger, sharper and more dangerous Pacquiao could have struck.

Pacquiao has also slowed a bit, a mixture of the natural ageing process and some savage fights, the type of bouts that Mayweather has expertly avoided in the ring and he has also simply refused outside of the ring to agree a few potential brutal encounters.

There is more to a long career in championship fights than the ability to avoid a right cross sweetly with a subtle roll of the shoulder; Mayweather has been masterful at self-preservation at the negotiating table in his days as a champion. Pacquiao has not been so fortunate, losing five times in a career that started in obscurity in 1995 and includes world titles at six weights. It seems perfectly reasonable to assume that the pair have declined in tandem, something that neither camp would ever agree on in this fight’s eternal turmoil of conflicting opinions.

Pacquiao fans hold images of their idol (Reuters)

However, the last loss suffered by Pacquiao was in 2012 – it was shattering and looked likely to ruin permanently any chance of tonight’s fight. Pacquiao was knocked out cold by a single punch from Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez, the same Marquez that Mayweather toyed with in 2009 and the same man that Pacquiao had twice previously beaten.

“Once you get hit like that, you are going to get hit and go to sleep again,” Mayweather Sr insisted. “I know I’m the greatest trainer in history and it is a fact that it will happen again. You can take that to the bank.”

The loss was sickening and in three fights since, all over the full 12-round distance, Pacquiao has coasted with ease and never been under threat.

Roach, understandably, takes a different view of that night. “Sure, it was a bad knockout, he was unconscious for a long time. But, you get knocked out in boxing, it is what happens and he was fine after the fight. It’s not a problem, not a factor in this fight.”

Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach (Getty Images)

The briefest of glances at Roach’s words serve as a perfect example of what it takes to be a top trainer in this dear, dirty old brutal sport.

The biggest concern is not Mayweather’s legs or Pacquiao’s chin, however – it’s not even the late fake drama of the boxer’s chosen gloves. It is the scorecards of the three officials sitting in earnest judgement of the fight.

Both boxers have benefitted and suffered under the watchful eye of the officials seated by the Nevada commission, both have been in fights where disgraceful scorecards have been returned. Men and women have thankfully never worked again after inept nights ringside in Las Vegas for either a Mayweather or a Pacquiao fight. The world is watching, a billion dollars could be generated and there must not be a calamity from the judges in what will be the most expensive bear pit in history.

The two men also have to remember the role they agreed to play in boxing’s richest fight and make sure that nothing filthy happens. Mayweather’s legs against Pacquiao’s chin is just one of the main attractions of a fight that just might deliver something truly special after all. The legs remain the sensible bet in a city where sense is never a consideration.

Follow Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao live on Sunday morning with The Independent.