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Over the last dozen hours or so, I've heard some negative comments about both Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao and the fight in general. Let me first start off by stating that I wish Marco a WONDERFUL retirement. He gave a great show for the most part in his career and I've seen amazing fights due in part to his heart, will and skill. I thank him. Moving right along...
I have to say, there seems to be this general concensus that the fight was EXTREMELY boring. I doubt that. The last four rounds weren't exciting at all. The first 8 rounds were ACTUALLY pretty back and forth. It was midway through the fight that Manny REALLY started to pull away in punch stats and in overall action. Otherwise, it was pretty tit for tat, though Manny was always apretty big step ahead of Marco in terms of connects and thrown. Nonetheless, Marco help his own for a while. In fact, up until mid-way through the fight, Marco was really landing the cleaner/crisp shots. He had more of the combinations that did damage and overall, had the pace that HE wanted working. He dictated the pace, against a younger/more active fighter. For a fighter, 3-5 years passed his prime to do that against the p4p number 2 guy (or even number 1 guy, to some).. That's pretty remarkable. Sure the fight wasn't a war, but this time you should have known better. You should have known Barrera was a smart fighter, waiting to g in there and try to box his way to a close decision win. He lost, I scored it a loss for him, but that was the plan.
Another thing that people seem to be claiming that Barrera is the reasonn the fight was boring. That's true and false, to certain degrees. He was the reason the tempo of the fight was slow. But it's NOT his fault that Pacman has a decent guard and a better chin. It's not his fault he was a step behind the younger fighter. It's not his fault that he isn't as fast as Manny is. I honestly believe that 2 years ago, this fight is MUCH different. I wont say who wins, because it's really not important, anyway. But, the fight is much different, let's just say. He boxed beautifully for 7 or 8 rounds, and faded. He wasn't winning in those first 7, don't get me wrong. But hewas ending his career the way he prolonged it. And for that, I give him tremendous credit. Basically, it's not his fault he aged.
Some also happen to think that Manny should have made the fight more exciting. That might be true. But it's wrong for some reasons aswell. Manny is the younger, hungrier, more aggresive, powerful and quicker fighter. He was in there with a faded, older and slower, less powerful opponenet. Who he may have had a psycological advantage over from the outset, due to a TKO victory he held over him. But he didn't use his strengths to his own advantage. He let the old man dictate the pace, and he landed the MOST shots. He really didn't land the best shots. But when no one REALLY gets hurt (though Pacquiao seemed buzzed once, maybe twice).. three or four decent shots beat one or two clean crisp shots. Especially if that's the case for an entire 12 rounds. However, Pacman was in there with a fighter who's as great as he is faded. Give credit to a fallen champion, don't take credit away from a current one. He tried, you could tell. It just wasn't going to happen.
I credit both fighters. The fight wasn't a war, wasn't even close. I don't feel ripped off. I don't feel like I wasted a Saturday night. The fight was a good fight in it's own right. Tentative, but good. That's all.
I have to say, there seems to be this general concensus that the fight was EXTREMELY boring. I doubt that. The last four rounds weren't exciting at all. The first 8 rounds were ACTUALLY pretty back and forth. It was midway through the fight that Manny REALLY started to pull away in punch stats and in overall action. Otherwise, it was pretty tit for tat, though Manny was always apretty big step ahead of Marco in terms of connects and thrown. Nonetheless, Marco help his own for a while. In fact, up until mid-way through the fight, Marco was really landing the cleaner/crisp shots. He had more of the combinations that did damage and overall, had the pace that HE wanted working. He dictated the pace, against a younger/more active fighter. For a fighter, 3-5 years passed his prime to do that against the p4p number 2 guy (or even number 1 guy, to some).. That's pretty remarkable. Sure the fight wasn't a war, but this time you should have known better. You should have known Barrera was a smart fighter, waiting to g in there and try to box his way to a close decision win. He lost, I scored it a loss for him, but that was the plan.
Another thing that people seem to be claiming that Barrera is the reasonn the fight was boring. That's true and false, to certain degrees. He was the reason the tempo of the fight was slow. But it's NOT his fault that Pacman has a decent guard and a better chin. It's not his fault he was a step behind the younger fighter. It's not his fault that he isn't as fast as Manny is. I honestly believe that 2 years ago, this fight is MUCH different. I wont say who wins, because it's really not important, anyway. But, the fight is much different, let's just say. He boxed beautifully for 7 or 8 rounds, and faded. He wasn't winning in those first 7, don't get me wrong. But hewas ending his career the way he prolonged it. And for that, I give him tremendous credit. Basically, it's not his fault he aged.
Some also happen to think that Manny should have made the fight more exciting. That might be true. But it's wrong for some reasons aswell. Manny is the younger, hungrier, more aggresive, powerful and quicker fighter. He was in there with a faded, older and slower, less powerful opponenet. Who he may have had a psycological advantage over from the outset, due to a TKO victory he held over him. But he didn't use his strengths to his own advantage. He let the old man dictate the pace, and he landed the MOST shots. He really didn't land the best shots. But when no one REALLY gets hurt (though Pacquiao seemed buzzed once, maybe twice).. three or four decent shots beat one or two clean crisp shots. Especially if that's the case for an entire 12 rounds. However, Pacman was in there with a fighter who's as great as he is faded. Give credit to a fallen champion, don't take credit away from a current one. He tried, you could tell. It just wasn't going to happen.
I credit both fighters. The fight wasn't a war, wasn't even close. I don't feel ripped off. I don't feel like I wasted a Saturday night. The fight was a good fight in it's own right. Tentative, but good. That's all.
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