By Matt Lester Matel: Quite a number of boxing fans have been lamenting about the fact that Manny Pacquiao is not the same animal that he was 5 years back or that he has lost power in his shots and that random drug testing has exposed his true capabilities without PEDs.
These so called true followers of the sweet science have maintained religious strict count of Manny’s knockout-less streak in the welterweight division which he first set food 7 years ago. Having lost back to back fights against 2 fighters he has beaten prior and after (Marquez and Bradley), the boxing community has labelled the Pacman as a fighter well past his prime trying to earn a record paycheck before riding into the sunset of retirement he calls Philippine Politics.
But before we assimilate all of these “conjectures” of boxing experts about the Pacman let us try to examine, furthermore challenge these observations. Allow me to walk you through the arguments point per point:
Perception: Manny Pacquiao has lost his power in the welterweight division, he has been exposed as someone who is using PEDs to get the work down pre-Cotto. The streak since 2009 has extended to 7 (if you don’t count the 2 losses), The Pacman hasn’t knocked out anyone since he forced Miguel Cotto’s corner to throw in the towel a little over 5 years now. Manny has also lost his killer instinct as well.
Reality: When you look at the records of the pugs he fought after Miguel Cotto with the exception of Antonio Margarito (who got knocked out by Shane Mosley after the hand-wraps controversy), None of the fighters he has fought has ever been knocked out. One can even make a case for the fight with Margarito, the fight should’ve been stopped somewhere in the championship rounds if not earlier. The guy almost went blind in his right eye after Pacquiao peppered it with power shots. The only thing that kept Margarito on his 2 feet was the fact that he outweighed Pacquiao by more than 20 pounds come fight night. Manny didn’t even make the welterweight limit during the weigh in. Understandably officials made the adjustments after doctors were able to save Margarito’s eye and allowed him to fight Cotto the 2nd time. The fight was stopped when Margarito started bleeding near the same eye that got operated on. The reality is that Pacquiao v Margarito is just a case of bad officiating. No one wants to knock a guy out who you feel will go blind.
Fighters who felt the power of the Pacman, just rode their own bicycles and refused to engage, hell some even rode wheel chairs after (Bradley). Ask Shane Mosley and Chris Algieri who were never really known for their track and field prowess prior to the Pacquiao fight. Ask Joshua Clottey who went ninja turtle style refusing to engage Pacquiao or Brandon Rios who just refused to engage Pacquiao. The truth of the matter is that if you don’t engage you wont get knocked out for sure. These guys know this and sadly all of them fought with the objective to hear the bell on the 12th round.
The outcome of his past 9 fights had lead some analysts to believe that he has lost his killer instinct. It might be partly true given that he has found solace in a new Faith or that he is now an esteemed lawmaker, but in reality, Pacquiao has just slowly evolved into a more well rounded boxer.
He was able to develop his ability of controlling his aggression subsequently avoid simple but costly mistakes (Pacquiao v Marquez IV), This is why Marquez has refused to fight Manny the 5th time despite it being a more lucrative than all other potential matches in the market. And before we can say that Marquez has Manny’s number and the outcome of a 5th fight would be the same as the 4th, it’s more like the other way around this time. Prior to Pacquiao getting knocked out cold he was out boxing Marquez and hitting him power shot after power shot. With the exception of the knockdown that woke Pacquiao to his sense he was on the verge of knocking Marquez out when he went for the kill and underestimated Marquez, who acted like he was about to get knocked out. Yet the reality is that, Manny will not make that same mistake again and this is why Marquez will not fight him a 5th time.
Perception: In relation to the first perception: Manny’s rise from flyweight to super welterweight can be attributed to his potential use of PEDs.
Reality: The truth stands, Manny did not have an amateur career unlike other privileged boxers. At a very young age he had to make prizefighting as a source of income and had no time to box and develop as an amateur. When you look at it, Floyd started at Flyweight as an amateur and debuted as a professional the super-featherweight category. Manny progressed in the same Manner but he started it as a Pro. Lets be honest, this is not something common that you see (flyweights becoming light middleweight champions). However, it can happen. If Floyd started boxing as a pro at the flyweight division I’m pretty sure he’d be able to achieve if not surpass the 8 titles in 8 divisions feat accomplished by Manny.
Perception: Manny is a one dimensional slugger (this may not be an opinion most scribes would share, however I brought it up nevertheless)
Reality: The Pacman has evolved from a left handed wrecking machine into a two-fisted slugger/boxer who has the ability of holding back and letting his aggression lose at will. When you look back at Manny’s career his losses become turning points in his career and helped him become a much better fighter. This is what made Manny Pacquiao the great fighter that he is right now. I would like to outline these turning points in his career:
Morales Loss – Prior to this Loss, Pacquiao relied solely on the power of his left hand, he pretty much had a very predictable combination. After his fight with El Terrible, he was able to develop his right hand as well and has added defense through movement to his arsenal.
Marquez Loss – Prior to this Loss, Pacquiao didn’t know how to control his aggression. Whenever he feels frustrated he goes into beast mode taunting his opponent to go in an all out slugfest with him. After the loss and learning from getting knocked out cold when you are at the cusp of knocking your foe yourself, Manny has learned the value of timing and looking for opportunities and exploiting those opportunities. He doesn’t rush for the knock out anymore and is now able to control these so called spurts of aggression. This is very evident in his last 3 fights especially with KO artists like Brandon Rios.
At the eve of the Floyd Manny match up getting announced and history being made, avid followers of the sweet science are divided in how they would predict the outcome of the match. In my humble opinion if this fight happened 5 years ago, Floyd would school and outbox Pacquiao, right now would be a different story with a more well rounded and experienced Manny. I think Manny takes this in a close decision with him getting the nod because of his aggression, but this fight will be very very close in my opinion.
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