By Jon Ingram: I feel that people have written off Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KO’s) because of his recent struggles until his last fight against WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley. I have been one to defend him when it came to his anti- fan base. Looking back at his past fights, I’ll explain why I feel that the old Pacquiao is not all that different from the new Manny. When you actually think about it, he maybe even better equipped for a Floyd Mayweather Jr battle more than ever, which I’ll explain a little better in my next article “Pacquiao better equipped for Mayweather?”
When Pacquiao was taking Boxing by storm and was the pound-for-pound king, it was because he was knocking guys out. If he wasn’t knocking guys out, he was stopping them. He had wars, and because he was the faster, stronger puncher, he succeeded. My theory to people’s perception of Pacquiao not being the same all comes from the Pacquiao/Bradley 1. After Pacquiao was robbed the decision he rightfully deserved, he felt he needed to prove extra by knocking out Juan Manuel Marquez, which was his downfall. But that knockout could’ve been the best thing to happen to Pacquiao. After the last two fights including Bradley 2, he’s shown more of his ability to box instead of just staying in the pocket, brawling and trading punches the whole time. He’s not known for his defense, but he showed in the Brandon Rios fight that he has some pretty good D
The level of competition determines how good a boxer may look in a fight, Brandon Rios for example: Pacquiao dodged Brandon Rios’ punches like he was Mayweather. Look at Mayweather’s two fights vs. Miguel Cotto and vs. Robert Guerreo. Mayweather looked pretty human against Cotto, who gave him a busted nose, but against Guerrero, he was like a boxing God. The level of competition determines how the fight will look.
A lot of people have come to the conclusion after watching Pacquiao vs. Bradley 2 that Pacquiao has slowed down in speed. I’d disagree with you. Bradley is/was a world class p4p top 3 champion and no pushover. He was dodging punches and moving his feet, and was just as fast as Pacquiao. So when you add that you are fighting an opponent that is just as fast as you are, you may not land as many punches or look as great as you did when you were fighting a lesser opponent like the much slower Rios.
I would on the other hand say that he doesn’t have as much power as he used too, but just because he didn’t knock out Bradley doesn’t mean anything, nobody else have been capable of doing that either. What Pacquiao did was outbox a prime American fighter who was on a major winning streak, with the most confidence any fighter could have had going into a Pacquiao fight, and Manny beat that guy. I would say that Pacquiao may have lost some of his power, but in losing that, he gained experience in that knockout to Marquez and adapted more of a boxing style which suited him in the win vs. Bradley, which will suit him better in the future.
Comments are closed.