Manny Pacquiao's decline has been greatly over-exaggerated: A look at recent fights.

[Fooliun_Smaxon]

So you admit yourself that he lost two of his last four fights yet you still feel he hasn't declined? LOL. Hell even the wins over Bradley & Rios were un-entertaining/boring which can't be said for the "old" Manny. The dude just flat out doesn't have "it" anymore and if you expect anything differently in the next Bradley fight you're in for a rude awakening.

One was one of the biggest robberies of recent times against a class A+ opponent, a guy who he beat 9-3 in most people's eyes, and one was a fight against his nemesis, the fight of the year that he was winning, 4-2. A vicious KO yes, but not exactly terrible defeats. Manny hasn't taken much damage in the past 10 years except the Marquez KO.

[$0uthpaw]

I wouldn't necessarily say that his skills are slipping, but I would say that he doesn't throw as many punches as he did at his absolute peak . Which isn't a bad thing because he's become a much improved thinker in the ring

[hectari]

For sure. But his speed and reflexes are still incredible. But even that little loss will hurt his defense. One thing I did notice was that he was quite crafty against Rios; doing little things that only a vet would do. Nevertheless I'm still picking Bradley over him. But if Bradley is in top form and comes to fight...and Pacquiao beats him impressively, I hope everyone stands up and salutes one of the finest fighters of our lifetime. It would be quite the victory.l

Pacman is a very skilled boxer, he moved like Willie Pep against Rios, even Mike Tyson said it. Pacman can box and move when he wants, people forget this, he boxed beautifully against Diaz, Oscar, and Rios.

[soul_survivor]

**PEOPLE LET ME FROM THE OUT SET SAY THAT THIS THREAD IS NOTHING TO DO WITH FLOYD** So lets refrain from a handbag fight boys lol

People say Manny has declined since the evisceration of Antonio Maragarito so let us look at his fights since then:

2011 Shane Mosley- He won 11 of 12 rounds with the only round being lost involving a false knock down. The Iron Jawed Warrior Mosley was put down very very hard by a left hand early in the fight. Only the second time in his career Mosley had been down.

2011 Juan Manuel Marquez- Great performance by Marquez. Manny lost 8-4 and was outboxed for the majority of the fight but benefited from the robbery decision.

2012 Timothy Bradley- Great performance by Manny who won 9-3 by my score, but unfortunately was robbed himself this time. People over look the fact that Manny conclusively beat a guy who is now no. 3 p4p, a top level guy.

2012 Marquez 4- What a fight. As Nacho Beristain said, the hard right hand that knocked Manny down early "awakened the beast". Manny's killer instinct returned and he was winning until he got his lights turned out.

2013 Brandon Rios- Beautiful outboxed a lesser opponent. Sensational whooping



As you can see the decline just is not there. Pacquiao is still a top 2 P4P talent and the beast shall return for a few last throw downs, mark my words.

I totally agree, his decline is exaggerated but that's not to say he hasn't declined. We haven't seen the great Pacquiao since the Cotto fight, we caught glimpses of him against Margarito and Mosley, both which he won convincingly and the only time I've seen Mosley genuinely scared for his life but it wasn't the Pacquiao who battered Cotto or annihilated Barrera or retired Oscar or dropped JMM thrice in a round.

Against Rios he was smooth and quick but his head movement was limited, his movement in and out not as fluid as before and normally he would have finished a fighter like Rios inside 10, now he seemed happy with a points win. Pacquiao is still a great fighter but he relies now more on technique and the ability to win rounds, rather than explosiveness and sheer physical domination.

[REMOVE SHARK 55]

For me at the end of the day since he was accused of doping it's been downhill since then.


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[IMDAZED]

Pacman is a very skilled boxer, he moved like Willie Pep against Rios, even Mike Tyson said it. Pacman can box and move when he wants, people forget this, he boxed beautifully against Diaz, Oscar, and Rios.

Well it's easy to look good when your opponent brings little to the table. It's why I'm so psyched for April 12th. It's a historical fight, actually.

[soul_survivor]

Well it's easy to look good when your opponent brings little to the table. It's why I'm so psyched for April 12th. It's a historical fight, actually.

Pac looked awesome v Cotto too who made Floyd look less than stellar, he looked almost ocmplete against Mosley but lacked that extra intensity plus Mosley literally ran right round the ring for 8 or 9 rounds lol

This myth about Pac only looking good against sluggers is ridiculous.

See, I haven't even mentioned the easy Bradley fight cos it's such an oft mentioned example.

[IMDAZED]

Pac looked awesome v Cotto too who made Floyd look less than stellar, he looked almost ocmplete against Mosley but lacked that extra intensity plus Mosley literally ran right round the ring for 8 or 9 rounds lol

This myth about Pac only looking good against sluggers is ridiculous.

See, I haven't even mentioned the easy Bradley fight cos it's such an oft mentioned example.

He did look awesome against Cotto and I think that's his second best win. I try not to get too caught up in comparisons though because there are usually too many factors involved. Pac and Floyd are two different style of fighters. Plus I think Cotto's confidence was at an all-time low at that time. He pretty much trained himself for that fight. The Mosley fight isn't even worth mentioning. IDK about Pac looking good only against sluggers. He's done pretty well against most of his opponents period. But the Mosley fight is a terrible example.

[hectari]

Pac looked awesome v Cotto too who made Floyd look less than stellar, he looked almost ocmplete against Mosley but lacked that extra intensity plus Mosley literally ran right round the ring for 8 or 9 rounds lol

This myth about Pac only looking good against sluggers is ridiculous.

See, I haven't even mentioned the easy Bradley fight cos it's such an oft mentioned example.

Whats interesting is Floyd fights mostly slugger types or flat foot guys with slow hands yet he gets praised for these wins lol, but when Pac fights guys who pressure him hard they downplay his wins like tailormade.

Why is Floyds wins so much better than Pacmans? I don't get it. Floyd pot shotting tailormade opponents = Amazing the best ever! Pacman destroying and dominating pressure fighters with pure offensive combos = tailormade nothing impressive.

[The Tase]

**PEOPLE LET ME FROM THE OUT SET SAY THAT THIS THREAD IS NOTHING TO DO WITH FLOYD** So lets refrain from a handbag fight boys lol

People say Manny has declined since the evisceration of Antonio Maragarito so let us look at his fights since then:

2011 Shane Mosley- He won 11 of 12 rounds with the only round being lost involving a false knock down. The Iron Jawed Warrior Mosley was put down very very hard by a left hand early in the fight. Only the second time in his career Mosley had been down.

2011 Juan Manuel Marquez- Great performance by Marquez. Manny lost 8-4 and was outboxed for the majority of the fight but benefited from the robbery decision.

2012 Timothy Bradley- Great performance by Manny who won 9-3 by my score, but unfortunately was robbed himself this time. People over look the fact that Manny conclusively beat a guy who is now no. 3 p4p, a top level guy.

2012 Marquez 4- What a fight. As Nacho Beristain said, the hard right hand that knocked Manny down early "awakened the beast". Manny's killer instinct returned and he was winning until he got his lights turned out.

2013 Brandon Rios- Beautiful outboxed a lesser opponent. Sensational whooping



As you can see the decline just is not there. Pacquiao is still a top 2 P4P talent and the beast shall return for a few last throw downs, mark my words.

As one of the biggest Pacquiao fan on this site, its glaringly quite obvious that he has declined.

Only a delusional and blatant nuthugger would think this is still the same pacquiao.

-Physically

He's not as spry as he once was before. His snap/ velocity of his punches is not the same. Its called the aging process. His stamina has been decreasing gradually since the clottey fight. Him fighting Bradley only during the last minute of every round is evidence of that. He fights in short spurts now and is clearly conserving energy as oppose to the old pacquiao who was going for the kill in every round.

The biggest decline in Pacquiao is the MENTAL game.

Success and the ridiculously corrupt political carer has basically eroded one of the fiercest fighters the game has ever seen.

I knew as soon as Pacquiao uttered the words " I dont want to hurt anybody anymore this is just a sport im a new man now, i have found God again" the old pacquiao was gone.

Long gone.

Old Pacquiao would have uttered the words "Nothing pelsonal, im just doing my job." He would have gone for the kill vs Rios instead of looking like he was participating in a million dollar sparring session. That's what success does to you. The only way you can prevent success from draining your competitive fire is if you have a focused one track mind and insane desire to be the best.

That's what Kobe had. That's what MJ had. That's what has sustained Roger Federer for such a long time where guys his age would have been off the tour already. Fed had a goal and that was to surpass sampras and become GOAT.

Pacquiao just wanted to get off the street and make some money. He did that and then some but has lost complete sight of the objective now. His movie career is evidence of that. His political career is evidence of that.

Pacquiao "The Destroyer" is loooooooooooooooooooong gone.

He is never coming back.

Those of you that think he's gonna somehow knock out Bradley this time around now that Bradley has two healthy ankles and now deeply entrenched in his prime are totally delusional. He couldnt freaking come close to knocking out Brandon FREAKING RIOS. WTH makes you think he's gonna knock out Bradley who is one of the most determined, strong willed fighters in the game?

Pacquiao decision or Bradley decision.