Since his first loss to Morales...he is a lot more patient and his technique has matured. Pac is turning into a great boxer as opposed to just a swarming pressure fighter (which he is obviously) he is definitely peaking right now...Hatton showed similar improvements with Paulie maybe not to the same extent yet but there were subtle changes that made a big difference. Pac/Hatton would be a war....I would pic Pac in this one he has the most imporved boxing skills
Hes so much more better than he once was just a jab,jab, straight left fighter. He goes for the body as much as the head, he really has improve defensively hes no PBF fighting backwards but he knows how to get back in position when in trouble. Wonderful ring generalship skills as well is what impresses me, he gets away from the ropes as much as possible. Hes like the Tom Brady of boxing, he takes whatever his opponent will give him with ease.
Yeah it's been obvious since the third Morales fight. He's clearly a more calculated, patient fighter. He's stopped looking for the one-punch knockout, and has started looking to break his opponent down with orchestrated attacks, as well as more discipline in regards to attacking the body. He's happy to back out of range in order to reset, rather than trying to brawl his way into position. This has all come from the immense improvement in his right hand, IMO, and his mental discipline of course. He's a much better fighter for it. I liken the transition to that of Kostya Tszyu post-Philips. He stopped looking to swarm his opponents, and instead apply gradual pressure and look for openings rather than trying to force them.
His skills have come along way since his 122 days. He seems to blend it better with his amazing physical talents.
And that was one of Oscar's best performances. His training for that fight sounded crazy...he saw it as a big chance and put everything into it..Going to Japan for about 5 weeks to spar guys there. Im sure I was reading articles saying he had been training about a month longer then Pac. You could see how fit he was the way he was able to soak up punishment and keep working. Pac gave him a beating in more then one way and seem to do it comfortably.
"Hes like the Tom Brady of boxing, he takes whatever his opponent will give him with ease. " This is a very good comparison.
He has, definately. Pacquiao is a supreme athlete, and now he's starting to fascinate himself with some of the finest points of the art. I could swear I saw him having a 'light bulb' moment during the De La Hoya fight where he realized he could execute a counter strike over a certain shot. He put it in his memory bank, I could see it on his face. He's sponging at this point.
If Pacs defense can be a little tighter while unleashing his combos, he'll be hard to beat. Hes catching some of the counters now with his guard and getting back in postion but I find him still open for counters..someone with speed and power like JMM and Floyd can exploit. Other than that his offense is unmatched in the game as of right now.
