Dubai: Eisa Al Dah, the UAE’s lone professional boxer, has predicted that unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather will prove ‘too smart’ a fighter for Filipino great Manny Pacquiao when the pound-for-pound kings meet in a much-anticipated welterweight title fight at Las Vegas, USA on May 2.
The active Emirati fighter, who also runs a health gym in Dubai, gives Mayweather a 60-40 chance of winning the fight that is expected to generate a staggering $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) in prize money for the two boxers.
“Definitely Floyd will win the fight” he told Gulf News at the Global Fighting Championship in Dubai on Friday.
“Floyd is too smart. I have known him for a long time, and you can’t imagine how clever he can be. He has been so smart that he has promoted this fight for the past five years now. He always knew that this fight would happen one day, but he kept everyone guessing.”
Al Dah also feels that Mayweather’s business acumen will help give him the edge over the Filipino great.
“The best thing is that no one has really understood his [Mayweather’s] plan,” he said. “Floyd was always looking at the big numbers [bigger cash returns]. I’m sorry, but I think he has made a fool of everyone, and ultimately he is the winner.
“In this one instance he has shown the world that he is the best promoter in the world.
Asked to predict the outcome of the fight Al Dah said: “I don’t think there will be a KO [knockout] on May 2. I don’t see any KO.
“But sometimes when you are waiting with expectations it can be an anti-climax. Maybe the fight will be nice and exciting or it may turn out to be boring as well.
“People all over the world are waiting with huge anticipation and expectations, but it may turn into something else,” he added.
“Now that Mayweather has got past this first step, we will have to wait till May 2 to see if he is the better fighter in the ring as well.”
Al Dah, who made his professional debut in March 2007, believes that his close friend Amir Khan from Britain, would have made a better opponent for Mayweather
“I respect this guy [Mayweather] a lot, and I would do anything for him to accept this offer to fight against Amir Khan here in Dubai,” Al Dah said. “It will be a bigger fight than against Pacquiao.
Al Dah also predicted that Khan, the two time world champion, will beat Mayweather.
“I don’t think Mayweather can beat Amir Khan. Amir has the speed. I feel he is the fastest boxer in the ring today, and Floyd won’t be able to take him on,” he said.
“Floyd fights against the big names, but they are all slow fighters.”
The 36-year-old feels that the Bolton-based Khan has evolved so well as a fighter that he can be the rightful challenger to Mayweather.
“All he [Khan] needs to do is be smart and use his experience. He needs to look at his past fights, especially his losses, and learn,” he said. “It is not too difficult to see that all his losses have come because he just goes in and fights. He has to know how to fight clever. If he has the brain of Floyd, he can beat anyone. He has to box, and not fight, and there is a big difference between the two.”
