Pacquiao vs. Mayweather by the Numbers: Who Has Benefited More From Clever Matchmaking?

Comparing Pacquiao and Mayweather’s Last Ten Fights by the Numbers

Several months ago, ProBoxing-Fans.com took a look at the last 10 combined fights of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and ranked them in order of the impressiveness of the win and the performance. Now, we have yet another way to continue the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather debate, a full numerical breakdown of each man’s last 10 bouts, ranging from the age of the opponents, to weight spans, incoming records and more. Take a look below and see how it all shakes out, all in an effort to see which has benefited more from clever matchmaking – something that detractors of both love to shout at fans of the other.

Breaking Down the Numbers

The common perception is that Mayweather is more of the cherry-picker, the fighter who waits on the sidelines for low-risk/high-reward opportunities. He is the fighter who is known to benefit from clever matchmaking to maximize his earning potential, while minimizing his exposure to harm. There might be some truth to that, but a look at the numbers suggests that Pacquiao is guilty of the same offenses—if you even want to call them that.

You often hear Pacquiao fans and media in general mock Mayweather for fighting older and compromised opponents. Looking at their last ten fights each; it is actually Pacquiao who has fought more fighters who are older, outside their best weight, and in the worse form. It’s not by much, but enough to perhaps dispel the notion that only Mayweather benefits from cute matchmaking.

By in large, however, the numerical analysis shows mostly similarities. It may slightly favor Mayweather, but the figures are pretty close all around. Despite that, it is Pacquiao’s star that shines brightest. He is seen as the major superstar in boxing.

It’s All About the Activity

The most jarring difference on this chart is how far back each of their ten-fight stretches go. For Mayweather, you have to go all the way back to May 2004 when he fought DeMarcus Corley. In Pacquiao’s case, you only need to go to April 2007, when he beat Jorge Solis.

There lies the major difference and the reason why Pacquiao is seen as the more pertinent boxing superstar. Pac is active. He fights. Mayweather, as good as he is, has only had 10 fights in over 7 years and only 4 bouts in the past 5 years. By the time he fights Victor Ortiz in September, he will have been inactive for 16 months. For Mayweather to have such few fights during his apparent prime is disappointing—to the point where some people have soured on him.

Mayweather and his supporters have a decent argument that he was more established earlier in his career. Both men won their first world title at roughly the same time (view a step-by-step weight and age comparison of the careers of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao here!), but it was Mayweather who was a pound-for-pound entrant long before Pacquiao. Therefore it makes sense that his better work would be stacked more at the front of his career. Being a top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter for so much longer than Pacquiao, he earned his bones long before this ten-fight analysis took place.

Then again, was Mayweather’s early work compelling enough to make that a terribly valid point? The jury is out a bit on that one. Wins over Genaro Hernandez, an unbeaten Diego Corrales, and a pair of decisions (one controversial) over Jose Luis Castillo are impressive. Whether it’s compelling enough for Mayweather’s fans to say, “Our guy was already a legend before we knew Pacquiao’s name,” is highly problematic. Nevertheless, the fact that his best work lies outside this ten-fight stretch is a point to take into consideration.

Going outside of this ten-fight stretch also benefits Pacquiao’s case that he is by far the more risk-taking fighter. It is damning that Floyd has never been the betting underdog in any of his fights, regardless of how far back you search. Pacquiao has been an underdog as recently as the De La Hoya fight. But going back further, there were other instances where he was not favored.

Look at the fighters who have received the most attention in this sport—guys like Ali and Leonard. Part of the reason they were so big was because of the times they shocked the world and triumphed as underdogs. Manny, more so than Floyd, has taken that approach. Floyd fighting exclusively as a favorite puts him more in Roy Jones territory, whereas Manny’s more adventurous career path will likely earn him a higher historical ranking when it’s all said and done.

That doesn’t mean Floyd doesn’t have a case. Another argument in Mayweather’s favor is that he defeated 3 of Pacquiao’s better opponents before Pacquiao fought them—De La Hoya, Hatton, and Mosley. It could be said that Mayweather faced better versions of all 3 opponents. De La Hoya fought Mayweather at 154, before facing Pacquiao at a drained 145. Mayweather fought an unbeaten Hatton, though at 147, whereas Pacquiao faced him at a more natural 140. The Mosley who faced Mayweather was coming off a huge win over Margarito, while the Sugar Shane who faced Pacquiao had not tasted victory in 29 months.

In addition, Mayweather easily handled Pacquiao’s biggest rival—Juan Manuel Marquez. So while Pacquiao’s greater activity is a notch on his belt, it would seem to behoove his supporters to not mention the opponent angle. The numbers are mostly comparable, but if you want to say one fighter has an edge, it would clearly be Mayweather.

At the end of the day, the inactivity argument is really Pacquiao and his fans’ best fodder against Mayweather. It’s not as if Mayweather’s fights have been that physically demanding. Why does a boxer who successfully eschews contact need so much rest? Most of those fights were not physically draining encounters. It would be one thing if he were a risk-taking fighter who fought a bunch of killers over a draining career, but that’s clearly not the case.

Conclusion

You hear a lot of people going back and forth about Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, with the quality of competition being the main sticking point. These numbers show that neither side really has much ammo in this argument. Anything the other guy is guilty of—your guy is guilty of the same thing.

Pacquiao fans and the media can point to his greater activity. They can illustrate that he has handled his celebrity status better than Mayweather. He’s been a more upstanding citizen and, as a result, has been free to pursue his dreams in the ring, without the legal concerns that plague Mayweather.

Where the argument takes a wrong turn for Pacquiao and Mayweather fans is when they insult the other guy’s competition. The numbers just don’t support that line of critique. One could say, over the course of their entire careers, that Pacquiao was the bigger risk-taker, in terms of opponents and jumping weight classes. Over the past ten fights, however, those edges may have been exaggerated. The weight spans of the opponents for Pacquiao (20 pounds) and Mayweather (16 pounds) are pretty close. The other numbers somewhat dispel the ongoing notion that Pacquiao is another league when it comes to picking opponents.

And considering each of their upcoming fights, it looks like Mayweather has won this latest round of PR. Fans and media are generally excited to see him fight a young titleholder in Victor Ortiz, whereas Pacquiao’s third fight with Marquez has failed to get the boxing world crackling. One figures that is partly due to Marquez’ impotence in his only other appearance at welterweight when he fought Mayweather.

At any rate, it is clear that the numbers show that each man has recently benefited similarly from clever matchmaking.