From a defensive perspective, what mistakes did Pac make vs Marquez in their fourth and final fight? It seems like he walked into that right hand and fell face down. Do you think it was a case of JMM landing a great punch or could Pac have done something defensively that could have mitigated that?
Pac always comes forward with his hands down and his head on the centerline. That's been the case his entire career. He gets away with it because he's very explosive. Most fighters can't time him enough to capitalize on those flaws enough to beat him. Pacquiao can also take a punch because he has taken some flush counters on the button and ate them. To answer your question, it was a combination of Pacquiao's mistakes and Marquez landing the perfect shot at the right time. Marquez is an elite counter puncher himself so he took advantage of where most fighters wouldn't.
In plain english ? He threw himself at the opponent sometimes, and Marquez timed that... no more complicated than that.
When Pac was at his peak, he was typically so fast that he could get away w/ that flaw w/o being timed. By the time of the 4th Marquez fight, he had slowed down a step & was easier to time as he rushed in.
this was my observation too but i wanted to confirm if others thought the same. Pac was too impatient. Good post.
A good friend of mine, a long time boxing guy, told me that the way Pac jumped in, he was going to get timed and knocked out cold. When Marquez finally did it many years later, my friend said "I knew it was going to happen but timing him must be harder than it looked the first time I saw him."
*an elite counter puncher who had A LOT of time and experience with Pac to find that counter. So on top of being an elite counter puncher, he also has that experience with Pac in particular by that time. Good post!
I agree with all above. But, part of it was that Pac got over eager. Marquez was in bad trouble, and, I think Pac thought he was going to finish him and rushed in carelessly. Quite frankly, I believe it was a bit of a lucky punch. But, Marquez has such an excellent pedigree of sharp counter-punching that I suppose he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Only he truly knows.
I knew a then-amateur boxer many years ago who not only told me the same thing, but actually stood up & demonstrated the exact same counterpunch that Marquez would land many years later. Pac's vulnerabilities have never been a secret, but knowing them & exploiting them are 2 vastly different things. I'd liken it to the way Tyson was always theoretically open to certain punches, but usually wrecked opponents before they even had a chance to think about landing on him.
