By Jaime Ortega: One of the main reasons folks questions Pacquiao ring ability before he got robbed in the first Bradley match, has mostly to due with Marquez‘s devastating knockout. Previous to that fight, people saw the Mayweather V. Marquez bout as world class performance in favor of Floyd, but after revisiting the fight I am utterly disappointed given the few factors I will present.
In this article I want to point out that when Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought Juan Manuel Marquez in 2009 it was totally one sided in favor of Floyd. Floyd claimed he dominated the fight and beat him with ‘ease’ but given the factual circumstances bellow, I am going to have to totally discredit his fight that some of his avid supporters seem to hold in high esteem and also equally forgotten with ‘ease’.
Marquez had never fought above 135 lbs and had fought at 130 lbs as recently as March 2008, while Mayweather had campaigned at 147 lbs 2005, the fight was scheduled to take place at a catch weight of 144 lbs to account for the size ‘disparity’ between the two fighters.
During the official weigh in for their 144 lbs, Marquez weighed in at 142 lbs, whereas Mayweather weight at 146 lbs thereby incurring a financial penalty of 300,000 USD.
Mayweather not only made Marquez fight two weigh classes above his normal weight class, but he (Mayweather) never made the official weight-in causing him to pay a monetary fee.
Floyd dominated Marquez at 146 lbs because Marquez was not in his original weight class. You cannot give Floyd ‘easy’ credit for making Marquez jump 2 weight classes; the man gained weight, had less coordination and looked slower which consequently heavily affected his ring performance. Not a fair fight at all, If you ask me.
A lot of Floyd supporters (not all), tend to be stuck with the impression that Floyd Mayweather will beat Pacquiao in the same manner Marquez did back in 2012. Do you know your boxing, and do you watch boxing?
Floyd beat-up a blown up version of Marquez, also Marquez was the aggressor which is not his style. Marquez offensive boxing style is weak as he clearly lacks on that department. When Marquez beat Barrera, he clearly fought with his traditional counter-punching style.
Mayweather and Marquez are both counter punchers, but they stylistically differ on how they use their technique.
Mayweather counters by standing his ground, or in the ropes using his signature shoulder role defense; on the other hand, Marquez counters by half stepping backwards and rolling to his left which is timed for Pacquiao’s right foot going forward which thwarts Pacqio’s original attacks.
But there is something even more intriguing about Marquez’s previous plans to stop Pacquiao that most analyst with all their ‘supposed expertise’ had not quite noticed.
If you detailly watch the last two fights entitling Pacquiao V. Marquez, notice that Marquez steps on Pacquiao’s foot to destabilize Pacquiao’s movement when he counters. It might be just me, but that is dirty boxing.
I challenge anyone to watch the fight again focusing only on their foot movement to further seek my point. In fact, there is a video online that shows the amount of times Marquez stepped on Pacquiao’s foot, trying to disrupt Pacquiao’s ring mobility.
If Mayweather uses his signature shoulder roll against Pacaquiao comprehending his boxing-style, he is doomed for a straight left with KO implications.
Knowing his ring IQ, I doubt he will use the shoulder roll against Pacquiao. With southpaws Floyd uses the high-guard and will try eventually to walk Pacquiao down, but that is where he will encounter serious problems with Pacquiao’s intensity if his body movement is not in constant displacement. Cobra vs. Mongoose, only Pacquiao is the latter.
I read a comment that implied Pacquiao’s volume is not as accurate in the middle stage, which is actually true! However, his ‘foot movement’ is not only superior but vastly more stable, explosive and versatile than Floyd’s. If Maidana gave that much trouble to Floyd with his foot movement, nagging Floyd to the ropes and making him miss punches, I seriously don’t see how Pacquiao wont overwhelm Floyd.
Pacquiao’s foot movement is allocated inside his calves, his real weapon were he distributes all his power and speed which is where Marquez constantly tried to step on to destabilize his movement to gain momentum.
Mayweather does not move forward like Marquez in his counters because he is ultra defensive, so those claiming he will beat Pacquiao based on Marquez‘ performance erroneously analyzed the fight or simply don’t quite understand boxing. More importantly, he wont step on Pacquiao’s foot because his sheer size will prevent Floyd from successfully doing so.
Bradley who I truly believe could beat Floyd, who dominated Marquez, tried exactly to mimic Marquez’s knockout against Pacquiao and failed because he unlike Marquez did not step on Pacquiao‘s shoes! Bradley said that, “People don’t think Pacquiao is defensive, but his steps are very defensive” and Floyd won’t be ready for that unless he steps on him to shut down his foot movement.
To finalize I reiterate that when Floyd beat Marquez, it was a clear mismatch in weight class, which naturally gave Floyd the edge and was by no means a fair fight. Furthermore Floyd is not Marquez, who constantly stepped on Pacquiao’s shoes to stop his dangerous and explosive counters winning him some points.
If Floyd uses his traditional shoulder roll he is on a suicide mission to encounter Pacquiao’s left punch. If Floyd uses his high guard, and tries to move away the ropes without stepping on Pacquiao’s foot to dominate the center ring he will have to deal with Pacquiao’s explosive and more dynamic foot movement which will prove fatal for Floyd.
I believe Pacquiao will win given the circumstances above and can’t wait for the rain of excuses to follow May 3rd. Floyd will have to knockout Pacquiao, if he can’t neutralize his movement, but given his ‘power puff hands’ the chances of that happening are slim.
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