MANILA, Philippines - Winky Wright, the former world junior middleweight champion from the United States, could be wrong on this one.
He said he favors Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Manny Pacquiao if the two superstars ever get to face each other this year.
“It would be a good fight, but I like Floyd because he’s a great boxer and I think he would outsmart Pacquiao,” Wright told fighthype.com.
But the 39-year-old fighter who once stood as the undisputed king of the 154-lb division stressed that the fight that is so difficult to make should be a good one.
The boxer who in his prime defeated Shane Mosley twice, then Felix Trinidad and Ike Quartey once before losing to Bernard Hopkins and Paul Williams in his last two fights, gave his reasons.
“I think Pacquiao has a good chance because he throws punches from everywhere and he’s not going to be scared of Floyd,” he told fighthype.com.
The southpaw from Saint Petersburg in Florida said Pacquiao could stand a better chance than Mosley who took a lopsided loss to Mayweather last May.
Mosley had the undefeated ex-pound-for-pound king on the verge of a knockdown in the second round, but did not press the attack, and went downhill from thereon.
Wright said the best way to fight Mayweather, a defensive-minded fighter, is to press him, and according to the boxing website it’s where “Pacquiao excels at.”
Everyone has wanted to see Floyd in a good fight and Shane came out in the first two rounds and tried to give that. It seemed like when he hurt Floyd, he got scared,” said Wright.
“Floyd just took it to him and dominated him after that. After that, it wasn’t even a fight,” he told Percy Crawford during an interview.
Still, Wright said Pacquiao throwing punches from all possible angles could give Mayweather problems he’d never encountered in all his 43 fights.
Like I said, you never know though because Pacquiao throws a lot of punches and gives a lot of movement. Hopefully we can get that fight,” he said.
But first, Wright said they have to make the fight happen.