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Is this just sour grapes or is Oscar onto something? It was announced yesterday that Kenny Bayless would be the third man in the ring for Mayweather-Pacquiao, and Oscar didn't waste a moment to provide his two cents on the matter. In particular Oscar is saying that you can already score one for Mayweather.
"I think it favors Mayweather, absolutely," De La Hoya told Yahoo Sports. "There is no secret about that. I had heard Kenny Bayless was going to be the referee and that's one point for Mayweather right there. If you notice every fight Mayweather has had with Kenny Bayless, the referee should break them up if both hands are tied up and they're not throwing punches. If you notice, for instance with Maidana, when they got in close, right away Kenny Bayless would break them up."
When people critique Bayless, they often refer to Mayweather-Maidana II where Bayless was quick on the break (in my honest opinion anyway). But it seems that fight has been extrapolated to appear as if Bayless has a long history of quick breaks favoring Mayweather, and I'm not quite sure that's the case. In any event, due to the style contrast, I really don't see this making much of a big imprint in the fight because Manny isn't an inside mauler nor is he known for holding and hitting. They way I see it, this fight will be fought mostly at mid-to-long distance where I wouldn't expect clinching to play a big role in this fight, unless Floyd intentionally looks for it.
Other than that, I think it kinda stinks that anyone in Oscar's capacity (a big time promoter) would already be "scoring points" for either man before the opening bell rings. Just let the fight happen and we can all discuss any possible injustices that may have occured after the fight, rather than try to plant the thought ahead of time.
Do you all agree with Oscar? Does Bayless really favor Mayweather or Is this just a moot point anyway due to the fighting styles of both men?