Pacquiao to win by KO between 5-9 rounds

By Al S. Mendoza

AGAIN, time to make a prediction.

It’s a job that I have to face from time to time.

Part of the territory.

I should not have been a columnist, dealing mainly on sports, if I would avoid this task.

Not even once will I dump it.

It’s a responsibility that I could not shirk.  Run away from.

Thus, each time a fight comes along, I am duty-bound to do it:  Pick a winner.

As I said here a thousand times and one, I have made correct predictions and incorrect predictions as well.

If I hit it, jackpot.

If not, sorry. 

You can’t win them all.

And so, here we go:  Manny Pacquiao or Keith Thurman?

Their fight today (July 20 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) is to unify the world welterweight crown.

So that means, they are both champions.

But who would be the better champ? 

Let me count the ways.

No, let’s go straight to the point.

Pacquiao is the sport’s only eight-division world champion ever.

That should settle the issue, hands-down.

In short, in experience and ring record alone, Pacquiao is the runaway leader.

Well, the facts say Thurman is unbeaten in 30 fights. 

Only one of Thurman’s 30 foes escaped with a draw.

And in his 29-0 record, Thurman had knocked out 22 of them.  Awesome, to say the least.

But then, if you take a cursory look at Thurman’s foes, you will find it hard to pinpoint a fighter with decent credentials.

Only a couple, perhaps, were worthy challengers.

In his last fight, Thurman was a pathetic winner on points.

And yet, his opponent was considered a patsy.  He was there for the picking.

Thurman admitted he was rusty then and he was almost without a fight for, say, almost two years?

But aside from his 22 knockout wins, Thurman can claim an advantage in being 10 years younger than Pacquiao.

At 30, Thurman could be stronger, faster and with more energy?

Well, maybe. 

But if we listen to both Pacquiao’s handlers, sparring mates and even complete outsiders, they will tell you the fighting senator is in tip top shape.

He appears, they insist, like a spring chicken again and moves and boxes like a 25-year-old.

Pacquiao is into his 71st fight, which is quite a lot and therefore speaks well of his tons of experience.

While Thurman has stopped 22, Pacquiao’s knockout tally is 39.

And even as Thurman is unbeaten, it doesn’t mean that Pacquiao is a lot inferior with his 7 losses.

Virtually all great fighters have tasted defeat and Pacquiao is no exception.

Didn’t Muhammad Ali, acknowledged as the greatest of all time, also suffer defeats to Spinks, Norton, Frazier and Holmes—to name only a few?

Thus, my fearless forecast again is none other than Pacquiao winning.  By knockout. 

If he does not knock Thurman out between the fifth and ninth rounds, Pacquiao will win by unanimous decision.

Thurman’s only chance?

He delivers a lucky punch also known as knockout.

But given Pacquiao’s superb condition, that would be next to impossible.

Pacquiao’s latent speed will make him hard to hit. 

Only carelessness will cause Pacquiao’s defeat–as in rushing for an early knockout win to be able to catch the Sona the next day at Batasan.

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