*First and foremost, I was wrong on my Margarito prediction, and it's only fair that I acknowledge that and publically own it. I felt Tony would pressure the smaller fighter more than he did, and that he would wear him down late, to Pac's credit he didn't allow this to happen and proved me wrong. *Secondly congratulations to Pac, I felt this was a great performance and he beat a "live" challenger who came to fight. I was more impressed with the win tonight than many of his most recent. Tony had the motivation, he had the huge size advantage, but simply didn't have the God given ability to see it through to the end. *I and many give Bob Arum and Top Rank in general a lot of ****, but I thought last nights card was one of the better PPV cards we've had in a while. I enjoyed all four fights, and kudo's to Top Rank and Mr. Arum for putting on a helluva show. *Lastly, I thought Tony showed a tremendous amount of heart, and credit to him for not quitting and seeing the fight through to the end, he was battered and beaten but he did not fold. I felt his initial gameplan was a bit suspect, and while I like Garcia I think they made some strategic mistakes that cost them the dearly. I hope they stay together and keep working on refining Tony's skill set, but while doing so perhaps get back to the roots of what Tony is, and what got him to this point...it obviously wasn't his ability to stand in the middle of the ring and box. Either way, Congrats to both fighters for fighting a good fight, enjoyable evening and in my opinion money well spent.
Good post Reppin' :good As Pacquiao has been fighting at around 147lbs, I think his opponents have somewhat slowed down a little on the number of punches they unleash. Probably once again, we're heavily underrating the fact that speed combined with precision leads to a lower output from the opposition. Same applied in Margarito's case which was known to throw like no other around 147lbs. Pacquiao's opponents don't see all the punches coming, therefore tend to hesitate before unloading their own. I think were starting to see the same effect with Pacquiao at around 147lbs, that we've been seeing with Mayweather for a long time now. They diminish the opposition's output because they have lightning speed and precision to counter anything coming their way.
Agreed good point. I think Tony could have had more success had he got inside (against conventional wisdom being he's the taller bigger man, I know) smothered Pac's punches, bullied him into the ropes, and then did his work. In my opinion Pac is at is best when he's allowed to get off first, I don't know that anyone (including Mayweather) can afford to stand back and allow Pac to get in rhythmn and get off first time after time. In my opinion Tony should have made the fight UGLY, it blows my mind that Garcia/Tony felt they would have an advantage by "boxing" Manny in the middle of the ring (even with the reach advantage of being the taller fighter). Either way, the credit is to Pac he dictated how the fight was going to go and he didn't allow Tony to dictate to him, via the point you made.
Reppin', Excellent post, man. Put aside the fandom and there's no denying that Pacquiao put on a virtuoso performance. During one episode of 24/7, Pacquiao was speaking in the calmest manner, and simply said "We know what to do." To me, that calm gave off vibes that Pac was seriously overlooking his opponent. I picked Cotto to beat Pac. I was worried for Pac when he fought Clottey, and gave it to Clottey. I was also extremely worried about the Margarito fight. In the beginning, I picked Floyd to win. I will never doubt Pac again. Ever. I think he KOs Floyd.
