Marco Antonio Barrera helps break down Pacquiao VS Mayweather (Video)

This was an interview done in late 2010 on Golpe A Golpe.

Enjoy.

-----------------------------

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4d5bgBcU3g[/ame]


Announcer Dude: Here we are in the Golpe a Golpe ring with Marco Antonio Barrera. So Marco, what's promised is Pacquiao VS Mayweather: what are we going to see?

MAB: Well, we're going to see how Pacquiao would advance/get inside, although he's not a fighter who places himself after finding an open path forward, and then goes; he's a fighter who can have any angle, who moves all the time-

Announcer Dude: Your stance...

MAB: My stance is southpaw.

Announcer Dude: Manny's.

MAB: Manny Pacquiao's. So he's here, he'll throw a couple from this angle, he'll move to make a lateral step (rotates left), then look for you there, and follow up...

Announcer Dude: Because Mayweather's defense is strange, as well, right Marco?

MAB: It's strange...very orthodox. You don't know where he's going to move (wiggles upper body.) When he moves with his shoulder...

Announcer Dude: His head back with his hand up...(leans backwards into philly shell)...

MAB: Manny's not going to be able to get him there. He'd have to take a lateral step (to the left), and look for him from this side (throws left), in order to hit him up top as well as downstairs, so that he's able to hit him.

Announcer Dude: Can we do that with a little bit more speed, Marco, to see better?

MAB: Yes, to more or less see. He's here jabbing (on the outside), then he makes a lateral step, gets shots in, and keeps his hands moving; and Pacquiao's always moving (bobs side to side.)

Announcer Dude: And careful with this one from Floyd, right (throws jab) ?

MAB: Yes, careful; he should come in like this (weaves under jab while advancing & opponent leans backward), get close, and look to land below and up top. Although it will be difficult and complicated because of the weight (moves hands upwards to indicate "height") and the left hand of Mayweather, which is very fast.

Announcer Dude: So how does Floyd counter that?

MAB: Well, here we are, me being right-handed; use his jab, which we said was very fast: (jabs while rotating left) boom, boom...

Announcer Dude: To Manny's right...

MAB: To Manny's right, counter-clockwise, so he doesn't find that, that cross which is very dangerous. And on top of being able to land his jab, he'll be able to get him downstairs (throws left to body.)

Announcer Dude: The feet are...the key.

MAB: The feet will be important. The movement, to be moving your waist, the lateral movements, always moving this way (left) to avoid Manny Pacquiao's finisher (cross).

Announcer Dude: Manny has the foot-speed.

MAB: Yes.

Announcer Dude: Who has the hand-speed, Marco?

MAB: I think that Manny as well, but you have to take into account that precise jab Mayweather has...boom, boom...and if Cotto landed it, who was able to keep him at a distance and hit him well within the 12 rounds-

Announcer Dude: That's a good point.

MAB: -then, he'll could able to control him and find success from that side.

Announcer Dude: We saw an image against Juan Manuel Marquez, in which Floyd will duck down, and throw this (straight right hand), Marco. He gets out, but after getting his shot in.

MAB: But that may be a point, because if he ducks down like that, Manny is a professional in throwing uppercuts. There are various layers which we will be elaborating on as time goes on. We'll be analyzing videos and, well, searching.

Announcer Dude: Searching for more things, more details.

MAB: Exactly.

------------------------------



Barrera highlights some of the details of movement that will give Pacquiao opportunities to land which I agree with and have often tried to point out to people. If and when Floyd tries to control Manny from the outside, his stylistic habits of being oversensitive to faints (early) and depending on fighting in straight lines to control the distance, either coming forward or going backwards, will give Pacquiao chances to create angles laterally and exploit a stationary target. Of course, Barrera also highlights Mayweather's own abilities and advantages, but those are much more apparent to us, and I believe Pacquiao can execute the maneuvers suggested to him in this analysis better than Floyd can for his.

Discuss!! (Without the vicious nuthugging, I beg you.)

 

The thing is, Mayweather's shell defense is a pretty stationary one in certain moments. My main point is that when Pacquiao tricks him into leaning on the back-foot by feinting and starting his offense, he's in a much better position to circle left or right, and find a new angle from which to attack. Floyd may try to pot-shot early, but he's not going to win this fight by being overly defensively-minded. When he entices Manny to go straight back after him, I don't think he's going to fall for it; I think he's going to step around, take advantage of his inability to pivot right after him step for step (JMM style) and find angles from which to hit him with unpredictable flurries and combinations, which is what Barrera was suggesting (40 secs.)

Your point about how Pacquiao may benefit from sitting back a bit is a valid point, rapcity; but I think it's something that should come in the mid-late rounds. If Pacquiao finds success by turning Mayweather and surprising him with angled combinations, then having Mayweather come to him opens up opportunities. Marquez did well mixing in coming forward occasionally to make his own rhythm unpredictable in-between counter-punching, but when he was fully offensive is when Pacquiao took advantage and hurt him the most (both in round 3 and 10, Pacquiao hurt him with counter-punches). When Mayweather goes into his offensive mode trying to shut-down Pacquiao, as he did with Judah/Mosley, we will start to see something different from Pacman.

In terms of that last statement, igotJUIC3, what I meant was that Pacquiao has incorporated those maneuvers Barrera suggested into his style of offense consistently, whereas Mayweather hasn't "rotated while jabbing" in a long time. He relies on fighting in straight lines and controlling the distance with reflexes, defense, his foot speed, and straight punching, but he's not into the habit of pivoting out to create new offensive angles or consistently rotating. He's always either inching forward, or inching backward, measuring the distance and controlling the pace to set up counters or lead shots. So my statement refers to Pac's usage of lateral movement to start offense being more readily available than a constantly circling and jabbing style for Mayweather.

 

I wonder if MAB will come back to the show when he retires for good and possibly joins in with JMM. Hopefully there's no bad blood.

 

He's definitely going to come forward at some point in the fight since Manny has close to no inside game and Floyd is great at it, but when Floyd applies pressure, he almost never smothers his opponents; he simply dons a high guard and times two hard punches at a time while cutting the ring off. His best displays of in-fighting have been defensively, countering out of his guard and wrestling through an aggressive opponent on the ropes to land the cleaner blows. If he tries to capture and smother Manny, it will be something we've never seen before, and I think it will be hard even for Floyd to corner Manny's movement.

 

Can he be economical when pushed out of his comfort zone though? Floyd is a master boxer no doubt, but I believe that when he's wary of a smartly offensive fighter, he tries to be as efficient as possible, and that might be his undoing round-to-round. The Oscar fight showed how, even though he rightly won that fight, he did it by losing rounds and becoming stationary at times because of his focus on economy. It worked there, but will it be a smart habit against Pacquiao? Is it possible to win that way when you're so used to fighting out of a controlled pace in a comfortable rhythm, and it becomes disrupted?

 

Well, what matters is how they match up on the night, and I believe that Mayweather hasn't ever shown anything to deal with that kind of movement. Floyd is more versatile against other fighters, but I don't think what he's shown suggests he can keep up with Pacquiao's lateral movemet ala Marquez. The way Barrera showed Mayweather turns a bit stationary when on the defensive points to real habits he has, that have always worked, but which may prove a disadvantage against someone with the style and ability of Pacquiao.

As far as Pacquiao fighting one way, he certainly has a more consistent style, but it's the little things he does that leaves everyone so puzzled; slipping the jab and simultaneously replacing it with a straight left, baiting a jab to counter with the right hook, feinting both up and downstairs, small steps left and right to create new punching angles, and even recently some decent counter-punching.

Floyd himself is good at coming-forward and applying pressure, boxing in the middle of the ring, fighting in the pocket off the ropes, and in his earlier days he could play one mean boxer-puncher. But he does it fighting in straight lines my friend. He's a master boxer, he's very versatile, but against Pacquiao, his style may betray him in certain areas. He is oversensitive to feints early, he relies on controlling the distance when counter-punching, he sticks his chin out a bit when applying pressure and throwing, he leans back into a shell that limits his foot-movement when flustered, and he hasn't shown the bouncy-toed movement Marquez was able to use to displace Pacquiao's momentum and use it against him. And, to be honest, he hasn't thought on his feet in a long time, and seems lost when he gets hit by more than two punches in a row (as Nacho aptly pointed out.)

Can he adapt if he doesn't control the fight/distance and is outsped on his feet, taken out of his usual comfort zone? This will be his biggest test in that area without question.

I'm not saying Pacquiao will definitely win, but Floyd can have all of the impressive technical tools and stylistic versatility Pacquiao doesn't have, and still lose against him.