Why is Pacquiao Fighting on October 17th?

By Boxing News - 05/27/2009 - Comments

By Manuel Perez: For a fighter that only fought two rounds and barely got punched a half dozen times, it seems odd that Manny Pacquiao has decided to sit out of boxing until October 17th. That’s five long months which is an extraordinary amount of time for a fighter that fought only two measly rounds.

The timing of Pacquiao’s next bout couldn’t have been worse if he tried, because it effectively rules out a fight with the winner of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez next. There’s not enough for the winner of that fight come back after only three months and fight Pacquiao.

I’m sure it’s possible, but like the catch weight that Pacquiao’s team have been waiving in fronting of the eyes of Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley, it puts Pacquiao’s next opponent at a disadvantage. With only three months to prepare for a fight with Pacquiao it’s hardly enough time to get in enough training tome to do justice to a fight against Pacquaio.

More than likely the Marquez-Mayweather bout will be a grueling with a lot of hard exchanges in the fight. Usually, a fighter needs at least a minimum of a couple of months off before starting training after a tough bout like the one that Mayweather and Marquez are about to embark on.

With only three months off between the July 18th Marquez-Mayweather bout and the October 17th date that Pacquiao is planning on fighting again, that doesn’t leave nearly enough time for the winner of the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout to train for a fight with Pacquiao.

I’d like to think that this is just a coincidence but knowing how Freddie Roach likes to get an extra edge over his opponents, I can see this also something that could very well have been done for a strategic benefit for Pacquiao.

If Manny can fight a beat up, under trained Mayweather or Marquez then it gives Pacquiao a much better chance at beating them if they were given a full four months of training and rest before a fight with him. But then again, it could be that Pacquiao and his team aren’t in a hurry to fight the Mayweather-Marquez fight, knowing how tough the fight will be for Pacquiao style wise.

The longer Pacquiao waits to fight the winner, the older Mayweather and Marquez get. Pacquiao’s only 30, so he can effectively wait out the 35-year-old Marquez and 32-year-old Mayweather Jr. until they have aged a little bit more to the point where they’re easier dealt with.

Another possible reason for Pacquiao not to fight Mayweather or Marquez now is that Pacquiao is rotten at fighting counter punchers, and Marquez and Mayweather are the best in the business in the department. So by taking more time off before fighting them, Pacquiao would have more time to figure out how to fight counter punchers a little bit better.

I doubt that any amount of training will help Pacquiao achieve that because he’s too dialed into being the one that does the attacking in his fights and both Mayweather and Marquez feast on opponents that come to them.



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