Is many still at his prime? When will he start to decline?

Wait till he fights some real 135 pounders and see what happens

 

David Diaz : ''He was ****in' fast in there...It felt like he and Freddie Roach were both in the ring throwing punches at me !'' :rofl

Manny will stay in his prime for a while still as long as he doesn't get affected by a real tough battle, ala Castillo-Corrales...

 

2 Yrs left of Prime Manny.
[He reached his peak tonight]

So about 4-5 More Fight's at this level.

 

I can't see Pacquiao fighting past 32. So that leaves us one more fight this year, three in 2009, and three in 2010. Seven fights before Manny hangs up the glove, at least that's my prediction. As long as he doesn't get beaten badly in those fights, of course.

 

He's probably winding down about now, especially with the weight gain.

He can change his style to preserve effectiveness, but the Pacquiao of 2004-today is gonna be on the way out.

 

I don't think anyone can tell you the true answer to this question. In general, fighters start to decline at about the age of 30, and fighters who have been in many wars like Pac usually decline a lot faster so they're absolutely done by about age 32.

But you never really know with these kind of things cause there are those rare freaks of nature who can still keep on fighting great well into their mid 3o's or even 40's. So you never really know. But my best guess is that his prime will start top fizzle away in about a year or two tops.

 

In the past few fights I thought Manny might have been slightly declining.

However, tonight, Pacquiao looked really good. Very sharp, great shape, two fisted attack. Good pace. Blazing combos. Impressive right hooks as well as straight lefts. Diaz mostly played defense, and was successful to a certain extent, but Manny was just too fast, busy, and consistent. Diaz went for the body a fair amount, and occasionally shot for the head, but was simply too slow and too overwhelmed by Manny's superior speed and volume.

 

I think the decline at 130 was because of the weight draining, he looks like he fits perfectly in this weight class. Manny has been in too many wars, but I wouldnt go as far to say hes far from the fighter he used to be.

 

It is EXTREMELY tough to say with a guy like Pac. He's a one of a kind in a handful of ways. The problem with assessing his "prime" is that he has been in so many different weight classes. If I say he is prime right now then surely many people will come back with "but he's 5 weight classes above where he started!". But you can't really say that he isn't prime right now because he surely seems to fit in well at 135. It a bit tougher to judge him based off of the fight tonight too though IMO because Diaz fits in perfectly to how Manny boxes. Like a Frazier-Foreman type thing where Pac would surely spank Diaz every time. I agree with most other posters though that he is in his prime right now and probably has 2-4 more fights left in him before he noticeably declines. That is of course unless he gets in a really bad war soon. I fear that an extremely tough battle might send him on the decline quickly. Hatton would surely do it to him IMO

 

Which wars?

 

Agree totally. Before this fight I thought manny was startin to fade a bit into the later rounds of his fights. But seeing his performance tonight i think that he suits 135 perfectly, he was sharp, fast, powerfull and he looked like he could fight the entire 12 quite easily. Having said that, he wasn't really taking any punishment, or having to deal with any considerable pressure from diaz. Maybe if diaz was able to lean on him and walk him around a bit while diggin to the body, it could have been a different story.

I honestly believe that he has a few good years still left in the tank, and thats a few good fights and who knows how many more tittles. Well done to him. He will certainly be a very big threat to anybody at 135 and possibly 140. Only time will tell.

 

Real 135 pounders? Diaz fought half his career at 140. He's the biggest lightweight out there. Seriously, the three best fighters at lightweight are the three guys who just moved up from SFW - Pac, JMM and Guzman. Casa's halfway to shot. Chavez IS shot. J uan Diaz would be easy pickings for a good technician. Julio Diaz, Kid Diamond and Santa Cruz are a class below. Raheem probably gets outboxed by any of those three. Katsidis is a blood and guts warrior but not a particularly good boxer, cuts easily and has a sketchy chin. Nate Campbell is crafty, but spent most his career at 130, isn't that big himself, and has proven himself to have an achilles heel for speedy fighters, losing to some C-raters just because they were fast.

Other than Amir Khan (who has his own chin issues and has a LOT to learn before stepping up to anyone of that caliber), there aren't any big lightweights that are good. All three of Pac, Guzman and JMM walk through this weight class. While it's exciting and there are a lot of decent fighters and name fighters, it's just not as good of a weight class as people make it out to be.

Sure, if he starts facing guys built like Juan Urango and Vivian Harris, he might start having problems. But I just don't see Pac having problems at 135 unless he starts to fade physically.

 

The way he looked tonight, he's definitely in his prime. He's looking good at lightweight. He was fast, powerful.

I'd really like to see who he fights next before the (hopefully) rematch with JMM.

 

I heard a rumor that Roach was retiring in a year or so, and I hear Pac is keen on following his mentor when he lays down the mitts.