Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are set to meet again, over a decade on from their fabled first encounter, and two-division world champion and former Mayweather opponent Zab Judah, weighing in on the surprise rematch.
Judah was touted to be one of the major threats to Mayweather during the early 2000s, but a loss to Carlos Baldomir scuppered their unification plans as the New Yorker lost his world title. Instead, he assumed the role of challenger when he collided with ‘Pretty Boy’ in 2006.
Mayweather dominated proceedings to defend his IBF welterweight world title and he would then go on to defeat stars such as Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez in the years to come.
However, the biggest rival of Mayweather’s career was Manny Pacquiao, who he was linked to fighting for a number of years before their eventual 2015 meeting, which came too late in the eyes of many fans.
Still, Mayweather outpointed the Filipino icon relatively comfortably and hung up the gloves two fights later, but now the pair are poised to run it back at the respective ages of 49 and 47 years old.
In an interview with MillCity Boxing, Judah was asked if Pacquiao ‘has an edge’ going into the fight given the fact he had a professional bout against then world champion, Mario Barrios, last year.
“I mean yeah you’re gonna give Manny an edge, because he has movement, he has fluidness and he has those good combinations. He is a combination puncher with speed and power, so he is always going to do good – and he is elusive.
“The only thing with Manny Pacquiao – his biggest problem is his defence, sometimes he slacks on the defence and gets caught standing straight there and allows his opponent to connect. Other than that, the guy is phenomenal.”
Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 takes place on Saturday, September 19 at The Sphere in Las Vegas, for what will be Mayweather’s third outing of the year.