Is Pacquiao's defensive ability and ring IQ underrated?

His offense is good enough to negate is slightly above average defense. Put it this way, if he had a poor defense and a low ring IQ, he would have been stopped several times in the last few years.

 

definitely not

 

He's as good a ring general as there is in the sport, with the possible exception of Hopkins.

 

Dumb question. He defense is what it is. He is not the smartest fighter in the world. His defense is his offense. He has guys so intimidated that they don't fight, or they fight scared. Look no high IQ or defensive skills, he is just a warrior that will give his life in the ring but a blood test is where he draws the line.

 

You have people who claim every aspect of his game is underrated based just on what people say on this forum.

These particular aspects of his game are underrated though, underrated all round, not just on this forum.

 

He isnt really countering Cotto he is just 5 times faster than him!!!

 

yes, *****s act like he is ricky hatton only faster.

 

Well, Mr. Harvard, so truncate and secular you meaning "are" not "is" in thread's title, yes? Wait until Slovenian Slammer shows up your god on Saturday. :deal

 

OFFENSE is the best form of DEFENSE. :hat

 

his ring iq isn't mentioned often and he has a high one for an offensive fighter, his defence isn't that good (guards up defence)

 

Yeah.

 

He was countering him -- he timed Cotto's jab, leaned to the side to evade it and simultaneously threw his straight left. It's a shot that you land WHILE the other guy is throwing rather than after he's done. It's a riskier form of countering than the one Floyd usually employs, but it still works if you have good timing and speed. In Fencing and Jeet Kune Do they call it the 'stop hit' or 'time thrust', but I dunno if boxing has a name for it. (Come to think of it, Floyd's 'check hook' KD of Hatton is another example of it in action.) Either way, Pac knew what he was doing.

As for Pac's general defensive ability and ring IQ...I think it's okay, but not what I would call great. It gets the job done, but his offence is what really shines. Pac sometimes does risky things like simply standing there with his guard up, which both Cotto and Clottey used to land uppercuts. Roach kept telling him to stop doing it, but Pac seems to relish entertaining the crowd rather than winning in as safe a manner as possible. (Roach said Khan is his best listener, so Pac isn't quite as good at following the gameplan.) I've noticed that Pac takes his defence up a little bit when he's up against a much bigger guy, though -- in both the Hoya and Margarito match he was moving a lot, turning them and firing quick shots before moving again. I also quite like his head movement and the way he slips under shots sometimes.

I'm not sure if I'd call his ring IQ and defence underrated, though. (Unless people are saying that he's downright bad in regard to those fields.) I don't actually box, though, so he's probably doing subtle things that I'm missing.

 

yeah it's underrated. His defense isn't great, but it's hard to hit him unless you plan on getting hit yourself. I wouldn't call him slick, but he's pretty elusive

 

His defence is solid, nothing more imo.