Manny Pacquiao vs Naseem Hamed 4

As much as this fight might have been intriguing to watch, my gut instinct tells me that it might not have been as such. In a potential dream match up between Manny Pacquiao and Naseem Hamed, the question that everyone seems to ask is how Manny would have taken Naseem's punches. Though undoubtedly a great puncher, Hamed's punches relied mostly on an opponent's inability to see the punch coming, and for the most part, Hamed's unique ability was to land a punch out of nowhere from almost any angle. That being said, Manny Pacquiao is a much more disciplined and smart fighter who constantly moves around and doesn't leave himself too open to big shots. My guess is that Pacquiao would have had to contend with many of Hamed's antics early on, and if he could keep his composure, would have alternately frustrated Hamed. Moreover, Pacquiao was always a well-conditioned fighter who, though he has come to be known as a knockout fighter, comes to his fights knowing he is likely to fight 12 rounds; whereas Hamed was a fighter who firmly believed in landing that one big punch to end it all. Based on Pacquiao's better discipline and Hamed's later round contentment to just last until the end of the fight (see his fight with Marco Antonio Barrera), this fight would probably not have had a knockout, but possibly a lopsided decision in favor of the Pacman, 117-111.