'Pacquiao's chances vs Floyd depend on first 5 rounds' Al Bernstein

No. You people are missing the point. Bernstein is merely saying that Floyd must land heavy shots on Pac early in the fight otherwise Pac is gonna come at him like a buzzsaw in the latter half if he feels Floyd does not have the capacity to hurt him. It's a fair point. The only way Morales and Marquez held their ground against Pac wasn't by making him miss for twelve rounds, they kept him at bay by landing big counters. They both hurt him.

 

Looks similar to the punch that Mosley caught him with. Funny, cuz they were both kind of wide. Mosley's punch was a looping overhand right.

 

I'm not missing ****.

My post wasn't intended to be taken literally but Bernstein is way off in his analysis. If you agree with him, watch more Mayweather and Pacquiao fights.

 

Druguiao wouldn't back up Money May. :roll:

 

Given that most people are obviously posting without reading the article and completely mixing up what Berstein is saying I assumed you were doing the same. IMO the only way Morales was able to outbox Pac was because that big right hand counter that he was landing on Pac all night gave Morales the real estate and the time needed to outbox him. It dampened the ferocity of Pac's formidable two handed attack. I'd like to hear what you think were the keys to Morales and Marquez beating (or at least holding their own) Pac.

 

yes, i'm surprised that he thinks the opposite of some of the opinions i read.

 

Agreed.
I was thinking the same thing as I read it

 

I read the article.

I agree with your analysis re Morales for the most part and Marquez survived some tough early rounds and made some adj-stments to stay competitive in his fights with Pac. He was punishing Pac whenever Pac got too aggressive offensively and/or when Pac was sloppy with his defense when throwing the straight left hand. Pac's punch output was down substantially against Marquez compared to other opponents over past 6 years due to eating counters when he was overly busy/aggressive.

Mayweather made Shane Mosley (and his legendary chin) stop throwing jabs because he eating right hands whenever he even thought about throwing one. Can Manny absorb/shake off those punches better than Shane?

Zab Judah, quick southpaw with a good straight left, had some success against Mayweather in the early rounds until May made adjustments and took over.

DLH, arguably with one of the better jabs in boxing at the time, stopped throwing his against Mayweather to avoid eating counters.

Pac needs to surprise Mayweather by round 3 or the fight is over. Mayweather has more than enough power to make Pac respect him. Don't kid yourself.

 

What the hell does that mean?
Just what do you intend to accomplish with spouting off some generalities meant to stroke your idol, that's not even true?

So what the **** happened when Judah knocked him down that the ref didn't call? Was the stupid referee also in on your moronic mantra, that 'Floyd's never off balance', whatever the **** that means?

 

Floyd's just to versatile for Pac, coupled with boxing IQ and just natural advantages....Pac's got a big task in front of him....really want to see what he does when he realizes his natural attributes wont carry him this go round....like it almost didnt carry him in JMM fights.

However i can see Pac catching floyd early because Floyd has to adjust to the awkwardness of Pac, his speed, and power....so early on i can see Pac looking pretty good.

 

Bernstein didn't say Pac has to beat Mayweather up or knock him out in those first 5, he said Pac must survive the first 5 without being seriously hurt by a right hand by Mayweather...and that if he does, he makes it a fight and possibly wins it. It's an interesting viewpoint, one you don't hear that often.

 

That's the point, you never know what he might do. Against Mosley he didn't really run and fought back immediately which shocked Mosley who was prepared and expecting otherwise. The issue here isn't what he DID, it's what he WILL or MIGHT do, got to prepare for everything psychologically and physically for it. That's where the difficulty really is.

 

I think Bernstein hit it on the nail.

I actually think he doesn't have to catch PBF cold. If he can outland Floyd with consistent pressure the first three rounds, it will force Floyd to open up more with his offense if he feels he's behind 3-0 or even 4-2. And that would play right into Manny's alley, because I don't think Manny will be looking to stop him if he pulls ahead early. You'll see a careful Pacquiao like the one who faced De La Hoya, wary of his opponent's power but darting in and out with controlled aggression.

But if Floyd takes rounds early and makes Manny miss...if he makes Manny pay off counters and finds himself up 3-0, 3-1, or even 3-2...he will have the confidence to coast and stay focused on his gameplan, which would be to outbox Manny Pacquiao and rock his head back periodically over 12 rounds without going for the gusto in vigilance of getting caught himself, much like he did with Judah, DLH, Marquez, and Mosley.

 

I'm not kidding myself. I'm in awe of both these fighters. This is without doubt one of the greatest match-ups of the modern era. Their styles are polar opposites but seem to be equally destructive. I'm not one of these clowns who thinks that Floyd has no power. You just can't keep opponants off you and, as you say, almost stop an opponants offensive output without having power. The fact that Manny rushes in pretty quick is going to add to Floyd's power. And he certainly didn't have any trouble constantly whipping Mosley's head back. Seeing Floyd badly hurt did make me feel Floyd is vulnerable, that he can be hit and hurt. Prior to that he seemed almost untouchable. But that situation also showed me how well he handled adversity. The guy was incredible. To me Floyd looked like he still hadn't got his legs back in the 3rd, yet he still took the fight to Mosley (who had somehow punched himself out entirely), and was beating him convincingly. You don't often see guys hurt that badly and survive, let alone win every subsequent round. I prefer Floyd's style to Manny's, but this fight is incredibly difficult to pick. I think Floyd wins cos he's smarter.

But I agree with Bernstein to an extent. Manny feels like he's invincible at this point. None of the bigger guys have been close to hurting him. Given Manny's stamina, output, his movement, aggressiveness and his punches coming from all angles, Floyd has to stem Pac's attack somehow, he can't just make him miss for 12 rounds. Therefore I think Floyd needs to land something significant in the first 5 rounds or so, otherwise Pac will just come on too strong. And I think Floyd will land some big punches somewhere in rounds 3 - 5 and then take control of the fight from there.

 

Pac is the wrong style for Void. Pac by knockout. Of course, Void will run and try to hide, count on his judges to bail him out.