By Ramonito O. Legaspi: Most people think Pacquiao’s ascent to greatness is mainly due to his blinding hand speed and his powerful left hand straight. I beg to disagree. While his speed and power has catapulted him to the pinnacle of greatness so few boxers have reached or come close in boxing history, his skills are only secondary to his success.
The main factor that has steered him to successful fights is one intangible thing that he possesses. What is this intangible? Idealism.
A man with idealism is wont to pursue a standard of excellence in whatever profession and vocation he is in. He strives constantly to improve himself, his craft in view of his ideal. He may not be able to find himself on the level of perfection in his lifetime, but the act of constantly striving to be the best, however imperfect his attempts are, bring him closer to what is excellent and perfect. Perfection, my philosophy professor once said, is built on our imperfect attempts.
Brimming with idealism, Manny has reached a certain degree of perfection as a boxer built on his imperfect attempts. People used to describe him as a southpaw brawler lacking boxing skills but endowed with speed and a huge power in his left hand that could bring opponents to the canvas with a single punch or combo of punches. But that description is no longer sufficient. Under Freddie Roach, Manny has become a complete fighter. Yes. The speed and the tremendous power in his left hand remain his trademark. But his new set of skills has made his trademark speed and power even more brutal and lethal. Right hook. Lateral movement. Counter-punching. Patience inside the ring. These are the skills that he has shown in his recent fights.
In his fight against Hatton, Manny used counter-punching and right hook that made Hatton unable to adjust. It was the right hook that knocked Ricky down in the first round. The second round turned out to be the end of the fight that left the crowd craved for more. Manny used his right hook as a prelude to his powerful left straight that knocked Ricky cold on the canvas.
Against de la Hoya, Pacquiao’s lateral movement was more manifest. His head movement and darting in and out technique were grounded on his improved lateral movement. Pacquiao’s excellent execution of this skill made de la Hoya, a six-division champ, look like an amateur. Manny used his lateral movement and negotiated an angle to put de la Hoya in an awkward position. The helpless and hapless de la Hoya quit on his stool in the eighth round.
Against David Diaz, Manny executed his strategy with patience. He never jumped on Diaz and boxed toe to toe. But he kept his aggression in check and patiently dismantled Diaz in the 9th round.
In his last three fights, he whipped the three big welterweights—Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey, and Antonio Margarito. Miguel tried to repel Manny in the first few rounds which proved futile because Manny peppered him with combination of punches. A quick right hook floored Cotto in the 3rd round. Then a right hook and a left straight in the 4th sent Cotto to the canvas again. In the succeeding rounds, Miguel continued to trade punches with Pacquiao, but a trace of weakening resistance and resolve was evident. Beginning in the 9th round, Cotto was in survival mode. He was in retreat, back pedaling to avoid Pacquiao’s stinging right hook and vicious left straight. Had referee Bayless not stopped the fight in the 12th round, he would have knocked out the Puerto Rican star. In fact, Pacman would have stopped Miguel earlier in the 9th round, had the latter continued to engage the former. But Cotto was wise enough to run to avoid being knocked out.
Joshua Clottey tried his best not to be knocked out by Pacquiao. Unlike Cotto, he didn’t run. He stood his ground. But he seldom trade punches with Pacquiao because he was busy covering up his face with his turtle-shell defense. Clottey was unable to match Pacquiao’s seemingly incessant power shots. He was reduced to a punching bag, only firing back at Pacquiao on occasion. Clottey survived the whole 12 rounds. Pacquiao won by a unanimous decision.
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