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First off I feel Pacquiao has got a bad rap after the fight because a lot of people were building this fight to be a 50/50 which it never was. The shoulder injury thing I guess didn't help, but I would prefer to stick to boxing in this thread, and kind of defend Manny's performance and also address the black cloud that was put over him by the Mayweather's, Malignaggi, etc.
What happened to the small weak fighter that would get knocked out as soon he was randomly tested? I could pull out a lot of interviews where the Mayweather's went on record to this tune. As well as many people on here. Regardless of the result Manny was CLEARLY the stronger fighter on the night and he hurt Floyd with less than full blooded shots. I am not saying that he never participated in PED use, I am not sure either way, but he certainly didn't look any different to what we have seen in the past, in fact to me anyway he looked a little sharper than he had recently if not the normal trend of decline we have been seeing since Margarito.
There is no doubting Floyd clearly won and pretty much Willie Pepp'd Manny, his defence and skill was the difference which most educated fans predicted would happen. But Manny also showed great skills in the ring that night, and in fact you could argue that he landed the better, cleaner, and more damaging shots in the fight. He showed an aptitude at range and in a tactical boxing match with one of the greatest tactical boxers ever! Normally by the second half of a fight Floyd has dented his opponent and causes damage by sitting down on his shots and throwing some effective combinations, he never really got control of Manny in that way, that is real credit to Pacquiao because to be honest I expected him to start getting lit up by the 9th round.
Just some conclusions in the fight that seem to have been overlooked:
- Manny is an extremely underrated technician, he caused Floyd more technical problems then any of you would care to see that night.
- Manny is not an aggressive volume pressure fighter, he throws volume when he is attacked or his opponent stands still. So why did everyone expect him to fight like Mike Tyson or Roberto Duran in Montreal?
- Most people were disappointed with Manny's performance, I was not, I found some aspects of his performance extremely impressive.
- The one thing I can criticise him for is not pressing enough in the latter part of the fight when it was clear he was down.
- Ultimately I don't think the injury lost him the fight, I go back to my original thoughts in 2009, I thought Manny would push him and give him a tough night, but I never thought he could win (although after Cotto I wasn't so sure, that is when the fight should have happened).
- I admire both of these guys and they are more suited to being 15 round fighters, I have never seen two fighters who retain their technique all the way through a 12 round fight, I think this has set them apart from every other fighter in their generation, in my head I question whether this is down to superior strength and conditioning or something else?
Its time to give both guys credit - plus the misconception that the fight was a one sided rout is just not true. Manny showed his greatness in the ring that night, Floyd was just that chunk better. I think Floyd would have done that to many great fighters.
What happened to the small weak fighter that would get knocked out as soon he was randomly tested? I could pull out a lot of interviews where the Mayweather's went on record to this tune. As well as many people on here. Regardless of the result Manny was CLEARLY the stronger fighter on the night and he hurt Floyd with less than full blooded shots. I am not saying that he never participated in PED use, I am not sure either way, but he certainly didn't look any different to what we have seen in the past, in fact to me anyway he looked a little sharper than he had recently if not the normal trend of decline we have been seeing since Margarito.
There is no doubting Floyd clearly won and pretty much Willie Pepp'd Manny, his defence and skill was the difference which most educated fans predicted would happen. But Manny also showed great skills in the ring that night, and in fact you could argue that he landed the better, cleaner, and more damaging shots in the fight. He showed an aptitude at range and in a tactical boxing match with one of the greatest tactical boxers ever! Normally by the second half of a fight Floyd has dented his opponent and causes damage by sitting down on his shots and throwing some effective combinations, he never really got control of Manny in that way, that is real credit to Pacquiao because to be honest I expected him to start getting lit up by the 9th round.
Just some conclusions in the fight that seem to have been overlooked:
- Manny is an extremely underrated technician, he caused Floyd more technical problems then any of you would care to see that night.
- Manny is not an aggressive volume pressure fighter, he throws volume when he is attacked or his opponent stands still. So why did everyone expect him to fight like Mike Tyson or Roberto Duran in Montreal?
- Most people were disappointed with Manny's performance, I was not, I found some aspects of his performance extremely impressive.
- The one thing I can criticise him for is not pressing enough in the latter part of the fight when it was clear he was down.
- Ultimately I don't think the injury lost him the fight, I go back to my original thoughts in 2009, I thought Manny would push him and give him a tough night, but I never thought he could win (although after Cotto I wasn't so sure, that is when the fight should have happened).
- I admire both of these guys and they are more suited to being 15 round fighters, I have never seen two fighters who retain their technique all the way through a 12 round fight, I think this has set them apart from every other fighter in their generation, in my head I question whether this is down to superior strength and conditioning or something else?
Its time to give both guys credit - plus the misconception that the fight was a one sided rout is just not true. Manny showed his greatness in the ring that night, Floyd was just that chunk better. I think Floyd would have done that to many great fighters.
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