By Radio Rahim
Hall of Famer and former champion Joe Calzaghe felt Manny Pacquiao's inability to control the pace was his downfall in the May 2nd mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
In the majority of his fights, Pacquiao is whirlwind who overwhelms his opponents with a high temp of combinations and power punches. That wasn't the case with Mayweather, who won a twelve round unanimous decision.
The most telling sign of Pacquiao not pulling the trigger was the final CompuBox tallies, which had Mayweather - who traditionally sports a low punch count - actually outworking his Filipino rival.
Pacquiao says his performance was affected after suffering an injury to his right shoulder in the fourth round of the fight. That round happened to be Pacquiao's best of the contest.
"I think was a bit anti-climax. I think a lot of people think that. I think in the first four rounds, Pacquiao had a good fourth and then in the fifth. But he just let Mayweather dictate the pace and that's why [Mayweather] is a great fighter. He's an expert of timing and movement. He's very elusive, it's very hard to catch Floyd clean with combinations and he makes things look easy," Calzaghe told BoxingScene.com.
"I know the boxing purists appreciated the fight. I didn't expect a slugfest. I know a lot of people didn't. But that's why Floyd Mayweather is undefeated - he's a hard man to catch."