Lookin back at Pac as a constantly evolving fighter: identify changes

new woman

new recording stint

another political stint

:rofl

oh manny! no wonder the mayweathers envy you

 

Diaz vs. Pac - Showed he had a right hand

ODLH vs. Pac - He can be elusive

Hatton vs. Pac - He had power at higher weights

Cotto vs. Pac - He can take a punch

 

I personally thought he went backwards from the DLH fight. He hardly used head movement in the Hatton and Cotto fights. Especially against Cotto hence his effective jab. Whilst Marquez had a great jab but wasn't as effective in their first fight because Pac had that head movement going.

 

Yeah, the uppercut against Cotto was the first time it's really been effective. Definetly a big improvement and we should see it more against Clottey.

I think, generally, his use if angles, footwork and combination have improved since the second JMM fight. I don't think there's a big jump in any of those fights, unlike his second fight with Morales where he showed a really good tight hand that we hadn't seen previously. That was a very significant jump, but most other changes have just been gradual.

 

He has gained that level of confidence only great fighters possess.

 

I first began noticing his improvements in the Diaz fight. He seemed to be more reserved and patient than before, as well as figuring out how to use his right hand just as effectively as his left.

Then came the Oscar fight, and wow! Say all you want about Oscar's condition, but Manny on that night was phenomenal. His footwork, head movement, ring intelligence, and the the speed/accuracy of his straight left was something to behold. To me his greatest ever performance.

Going on to his destruction of Hatton, a poor Ricky Hatton and only 6 minutes of footage (most of that watching Ricky on his back), didn't really tell us much other than the guy still has power even at 140. But it did remind us of how he's developed his right hand, and how he's not bad at countering either (first knockdown).

His last outting against Cotto kind of gave me mixed feelings. I was amazed at his ability to take a shot from a powerful Welterweight, and not even blink! I was also impressed by his ability to again retaing his power punching at another weight up. It also told me, that in exchanges, Manny will come out on top against any fighter in and around his division. His power, lightning speed, and improved accuracy gives him a distinct advantage over other brawlers. But one thing I didn't like, was that he chose not to use the ring intelligence, footwork and defence he showed against Oscar. But I do concede this may have been due to his insistance on proving to Cotto and other people, that yes he can take a shot at Weltwerweight. Finally and perhaps most importantly, I noticed he still has the susceptibility to be outboxed. In the early rounds before the first knockdown, Cotto had him tamed with a simple jab, and Manny for those brief moments looked a little frustrated. Be sure to expect Mayweather to exploit this weakness

 

the biggest change came between the 2nd Morales fight and the Oscar Larios fight. Just picking his shots more and setting up his offense and moving out of danger after he punches

 

He shows improvement in head movement over the years as against Hatton(I know he was wild but Manny didn't get hit with unnecessary punches at all) and Cotto(at times).

 

very well said.. i do agree on you on the last part. yeah i think mayweather will be jabbing manny and frustrate him.

 

:good

 

What changed is having Freddie Roach in his corner ..Look at how much better a boxer Manny has become since his loss to EM ..And by the way what were Manny's weights for all these fights ?

 

Watch Pac vs JMM 1.

After the 3rd knockdown in the 1st, Pac tries to finish the fight by letting go with about eight 1-2's in a row before the bell goes.

Watch Pac vs Diaz or De La Hoya or Cotto (to a lesser extent Hatton because the fight was so short)

A blind man can see the difference in Pac's punching style, variety and effectiveness.

 

For Morales 2 Pacquiao added a much improved right hand, greater variety in his punches, and more patience.

For Morales 3 Pacquiao punched more effectively while backing up, and showed the first hints of being able to counterpunch effectively. (Think of the famous bit where he catches Morales coming in and send him down to a knee against the ropes.)

I don't really feel there were any major improvements between Morales III and JMM II, so I'm going to skip to Diaz.

Diaz was a true masterpiece performance. Pacquiao showed improved ability to move in and out, to throw punches in tight, short combinations rather than a long flurry, and his counterpunching was excellent. Diaz kept dropping his back hand while he jabbed, and every time he did Pac just clocked him with a right hook. (His right hand had improved further by now.) His variety of punches was much better, as he went to the body and head, used hooks, uppercut, and straight punches, and put them together well. (For example, he consistently used the combination of right hook to the body, then a right uppercut when Diaz tried to adjust his guard.) Furthermore, Pac's patience and composure in the ring had increased yet again.

It's also the first time I remember Pacquiao consistently moving side to side either as he was punching or just after punching, which meant Diaz had to try and move as he was punching when responding to a Pacquiao combo. As a result Diaz was usually missing him when he tried to punch back, or was hitting him without the leverage he'd get with his feet set.

The fight with Oscar was a showcase for many of the improvements Pacquiao had made in the Diaz fight. Pacquiao continued using/improving both his in and out and side to side movement, which let him dodge De La Hoya's attempts at offense or step around Oscar after Pacquiao threw a punch and leaving Oscar unable to respond. Manny did well punching to the body to create holes in De La Hoya's guard that he could then use to the head. Once more he showed improved composure by hanging back and playing a dancing game around Oscar in the first several rounds while seeing exactly how much Oscar had for the fight. While doing this Pac kept his combinations limited to a couple of punches and showed discipline on offense until he saw that Oscar couldn't do anything, at which point he overwhelmed Oscar.

Hatton showed that Pacquiao had continued to improve his counterpunching ability, patience, and ability to get out of the way of punches. Most of his big opportunities came as a result of waiting for Hatton to leave himself open after Hatton punched, or catching Hatton while Hatton was punching.

With Cotto, he continued showing his movement and combinations, he also showed he could keep a tight guard, fight off the ropes when cornered, that he could counter Cotto's jabs with right hooks, and that he could take a punch from a strong welterweight.