Hall of Famer 'Big' George Foreman picks Pacquiao to edge Mayweather

Former heavyweight champion "Big" George Foreman is no stranger to big fights. He lost his heavyweight title to Muhammad Ali in 1974 in a bout which became known as "The Rumble in the Jungle." That fight marked the invention of the term, "Rope-a-Dope," in which Ali laid back on the ropes and allowed Foreman to punch himself out.

Few people know that Foreman also competed in the first pay-per-view bout in history. He was part of a staggering 1.5 million PPV buys for a 1991 bout with Evander Holyfield. That came at a time when the universe for pay-per-view was just 15 million, so it had a penetration of 10 percent. If the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao bout on May 2 in Las Vegas does a 10 percent penetration, it would sell nearly 10 million.

On a conference call to promote an HBO documentary show, "Mayweather-Pacquiao: Legends Speak", Foreman shared his thoughts about the significance of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, his reaction to Mayweather's claim that he's the greatest boxer of all time and explained why he is picking Pacquiao to win.

"If we’ve got good judges this time, it’s go Pacquiao," said Foreman, who expects the Filipino star to come out on top in a tight decision. "Mayweather starts off early kind of looking for his timing and ... Pacquiao will pot shot him and get ahead on points and he’ll stay ahead. He’ll slow down later on and Mayweather will take on the more aggression but he doesn’t have a right hand. He’ll hurt his right hand. He can't get a knockout. So he’ll just have to cruise on in and win or lose the fight just by a couple of points."

Foreman said he expected the bout to "be a fantastic, amazing boxing match, one that is going to live up to the hype."

He also reacted to Mayweather's self-proclaimed title of "TBE," which is an acronym for "The Best Ever."

Foreman didn't appear to agree, but he didn't really dispute it much.

"Everything that [Mayweather] says amounts to be like one of those guys in church saying, ‘Amen, Amen,’ " Foreman said. "The more he says it, the more you want to ‘Amen’ him and become friends with him. Maybe he will loan you a couple of bucks. The guy is that good. Even if you don’t like him, he’s good enough for you. I mean, you’ve got to be very good to have someone dislike you.
 
"Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, we’ve had our day. I mean, look, we can’t do anything to help the future of boxing matches. Mayweather can. We’ve got to cheer for him. If that’s what he needs to do is talk, great."

Foreman suffered his first loss when he was stopped by Ali in the eighth round of a monumental upset in Zaire in 1974. Mayweather enters the Pacquiao fight 47-0 and it is clear he's heavily invested in retiring unbeaten.

Foreman said losing for the first time, especially after a long winning streak, will have a toll.

"I was in that position when I lost to Muhammad Ali," Foreman said. "It wasn’t like I lost the title. You lose your perspective of who you are as a human being. This could really knock him out. That’s why I don’t think there can easily be a rematch if Mayweather loses because you have to go out into the mountains somewhere, the hills somewhere, to try to find himself all over again. This could devastate him as a boxer. Not as a man, but as a boxer. This could devastate him, a loss."

The documentary show will be on HBO on Saturday following the conclusion of the heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Bryant Jennings.