Does Manny Pacquiao Face an Oppenent Capable of the Ko?

The fight of this decade is coming on March 13th - Floyd Mayweather Jr. v.s. Manny Pacquiao. The Mayweather fans seem to have no doubt their boy is going to finish off Manny with relative ease. The Pacquiao fans look like they share the same sentiment - just in favor of Manny. It would be great to see this fight end in a KO or TKO but who is the boxer more likely to get knocked out.

As someone who watches boxing for the pure enjoyment of the sport, here is my opinion:

Floyd is going to get hit much less than the Hatton, De La Hoya, and Cotto. His defense is close to perfect. As close as you can get or at least that I have seen from present decade boxers. That being said, Floyd is going to get hit more than he ever has with some of the hardest punches he has taken. Pacquiao's power and speed doesn't seem to diminish that much even through the later rounds. If you figure Mayweather is going to get hit at least 30% less than the mentioned Pacquiao opponents, he's likely still going to have taken some pretty good blows by the 10th and 11th round. I'm going to say Pacquiao has a 50% chance of knocking Mayweather out just because I think the repeated blows by Pacquiao might just throw Mayweather off enough that his defense worsens and he leaves him self open for some odd angled power punch that he didn't see coming.

I think Pacquiao has just as good a chance of being KO'd. Some people say Mayweather doesn't have power but even if that is true, a moderately heavy punch landed on the chin a couple times in a row from a straight left left and jumping left hook that is just as fast as Pacquiao's punches is going to cause problems. We've seen Pacquiao take some blows, we've also seen him get in trouble as recently as March 2008 against Marquez. I have to say though - Manny Pacquiao is not nearly as wreckless as he was even just shy of 2 years ago. 50% chance of Manny being KO'd. He's going to be constantly attacking and Mayweather is going to be counter-punching. Those counter punches will be better than Marquez's and the danger is definitely there for Pac.

Manny Pacquiao is one of the world's most popular boxers today. Floyd is the favorite by many. Who will win March 2010? If you are a Pacquiao supporter, check out some of the largely sold out Manny Pacquiao shirt items. Floyd fan? Check out some Floyd apparel.