By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO’s) seemingly has the deck slanted in his favor for his fight against 38-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KO’s) on November 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao will have the weight advantage of fighting at a small catch weight of 144 lbs, and will be the much younger guy at 32 compared to the 38-year-old Marquez.

Pacquiao and Marquez have fought twice before with the first fight ending in a 12 round draw and the second with Pacquiao winning a controversial 12 round split decision. The difference between how Pacquiao fought in those fights and how he fights now is pretty dramatic. Back then, Pacquiao was much lighter at 125 and 129 lbs, and younger as well.

Pacquiao had great footwork which allowed him to jump from side to side constantly changing angles to give Marquez problems. However, now many years later and 20 pounds heavier, Pacquiao has lost his great footwork and is more of a stationary plodder. Pacquiao now walks rather than jumps around when fighting, and he gets out of breath rather easily. Pacquiao has lost a great part of his game with his legs going on him.

Without his ability to jump from side to side against a skilled fighter like Marquez, Pacquiao could end up being the equivalent of a bird with it’s wings clipped. Marquez already proved that he’s better than Pacquiao in a one on one exchange. The only thing that helped Pacquiao in his two previous fights with Marquez was his ability to motor away from Marquez to avoid his counter shots. Pacquiao can’t do that anymore now that he’s become a heavy plodder. Now he’s pretty stuck in the pocket when he’s fighting and that’s going to be a problem for him against Marquez in November. We could see Pacquiao get really spanked in front of the entire world.