By @BoxingMuse: One speculation about the Manny Pacquiao v Brandon Rios matchup is that The ‘Fighting Pride of the Philippines’ will be vulnerable to the punching power of ‘Bam Bam’. Although I believe Rios is a fairly heavy handed fighter, I also believe that Brandon does not exhibit the type of explosive punching power in which ‘Dinimata’ Marquez knocked Pacquiao out with.
I consider Rios as a relatively forceful puncher but with heavy, clubbing, pounding and hurtful blows rather than the explosive power to leave an opponent unconscious from a head shot or unable to make the count. If you have trained and competed as a boxer or are a boxing coach or expert you will understand there is a massive difference between the several types of power.
Many fighters are heavy-handed, this type of hurtful puncher will cause damage as a cumulative effect, can hurt to the body and could well hit hard enough to knock an opponent’s equilibrium off but lack the key ingredient, that touch of dynamite KO quality. A few names come to mind to illustrate this such as Carl Froch, Miguel Cotto, Micky Ward, Ruslan Provodnikov and Ricky Hatton. I believe Rios falls in this category.
On the other hand you have the explosive punching ability which more often than not a skilled boxer-punchers’ possess. It occurs due to their application of technique; executing a punch with momentum, superb timing, sharp accuracy and speed resulting in maximum force. Such boxers as Thomas Hearns, Naseem Hamed, Mike Tyson, Felix Trinidad and in the opposite corner to Rios on November 23rd Manny Pacquiao demonstrate this rare power.
It is also important to state that some lucky pugilists possess both types of power. Examples such as Julio Cesaer Chavez, George Foreman, Kostya Tszyu, Roberto Duran and Joe Frazier demonstrate this perfectly.
In this case of the famous Pacquiao v Marquez 4 knockout punch, ESPN Sport Scientists officially investigated the punch using high tech equipment to measure several aspects, dissecting the right hand Marquez threw. The devastating shot only took one-tenth of a second to land, hitting Pacquiao with over 1,300lbs of force. Chilling considering Juan Manuel only weighed 148lbs according to HBO statistics on fight night. The power Marquez threw in that shot was apparently equivalent to a sledge hammer being swung at 8mph. This is truly fascinating and shows the effectiveness of outstanding technique. (Here is the link to a video of the science behind Marquez’s punch – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVTN7LmNb2k)
To classify Marquez into a type is difficult. He is not a violent puncher like Matthysse or heavy handed like Maidana. I believe because Marquez is such a masterful technician, he knows what it takes to plan and land a good shot, resulting in the amazing knockout against his long-time foe.
It is a shame that the rumour of PED’s surround Marquez emphatic knockout over the ‘Pac-Man’, because I feel it had more to do with weight training in preparation and Marquez’s first-class application of his boxing ability.
The point I am making is that while Rios an aggressive clubbing brawler may have some power, I believe he does not own the tools required to render unconscious a world level welterweight boxer such as Manny Pacquiao. It is possible that Rios could overwhelm the older Pacquiao and force a TKO or a stoppage but not via a picture perfect knockout, he simply does not retain that explosive power evident in a dynamite puncher. Also key to consider Rios has spent most of his career at lightweight and two fights at light-welterweight.
It is disputable if you can adopt and learn what it requires to become an explosive puncher but it is unlikely Rios will unearth this sort of power.
If you are reading this and believe I am a bias, fan of Pacquiao then this is really not the case, I am just giving a professional and fight game educated opinion.
One thing about this match-up is abundantly clear; their styles colliding will provide us fight fans will one hell of an entertaining night.
Thanks for reading, Feel free to write your comments below and also if you want to ask me a question or comment on any of my articles (negative or positive) please tweet me @BoxingMuse or even if you just want a debate on any boxing matter!
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