I thought he was just trying not to get reckless.. so he won't get caught up.
That would make sense only thing is that Oscar's posture on the ropes was not one looking for counter punches, but to support and brace himself. He was in position to counter.
the part of the clip where manny was letting oscar throw punches into his mid section during the fight, i honestly think that manny wanted to see if he can take oscar's punches and if it have the 'sting' and to make sure that he doesn't get careless from the vaunted left of oscar
I think he was doing it to give himself a mental reset. He has Oscar helpless, but would wander from his gameplan and get reckless. He would then realize it, step back and go from there.
I thought he was just trying not to get reckless.. so he won't get caught up.
i also thought that during the live fight, but him stepping back from a flurry to go to the center of the ring, to stay inactive, give him a breather and a little chance seems more than 'not get too reckless'
I realized that in the fight also. Or maybe Manny wanted to have a good long fight instead of taking him out sooner, never know. Do you stand in front of Mike Tyson even though you're punching him? No. DLH can still hit and I'm sure he was a left hook away from sending Manny to the front row. So maybe Manny was cautious.