Pacquiao's Evolution

Its a good question, and what makes it difficult to answer is his jumping weight again and really being at the ceiling of his doing this IMO. Add to this the number of different styles at the weight class and its further complicated. He would need his come forward style against Casa, the ability to box against Juan Diaz, and a little of both against Cambell. He is most vulnerable IMO against pressure because it will revert his instinct back to being a banger and this becomes difficult against a Diaz or Hatton type.

To specifically answer your question, it seems that his evolution may not help him deliver his power with better effect, but if a fighter has superior timing and accuracy he needs less power anyways. It become more about putting something right on the button, and at the right time, like we saw Mayweather do with Hatton or saw Casa do against Katsidis. Basicaly, the affect of the punch becomes greater than the sum of its parts or the power place behind it.

 

Pac seems to have installed the counter right hook in his last fight. Maybe i missed it in his previous fights but he was SO effective with it against Diaz. As soon as Diaz winded up the right hand, Pac countered with the right hook and it landed even before Diaz could land on Pac.

Pac is sort of like Calzaghe. He's just so active and throws punches from so many different angles. You can't cover up. Diaz tried but he kept getting tagged. But Pacman has power behind his punches.

But to answer your question, yes, i see him being more technically sound.

 

Fighting a south paw gave him the opportunity to actually utilized that right hand more. I can already imagine valero getting tagged with it too!

 

So then the question become, can Pac conciously transition between his old and new style depending on what is needed?

I'm not sure. When he outclasses someone as much as he did David Diaz, he doesn't really need to make these type of assesments. He was just ripping into him and having fun letting his hands fly knowing he wasn't going to be hit by Diaz. Will he understand though-- mid way through an engagement with someone like Cambell or Casa who adapt to him-- how to transition?

 

Pac has not lost his speed at his present weight. I think he has more Power now because of Gained muscle mass and less dehydration during the weigh in.
What's new is his improved Right hand. He's now very Patient and attacks only at the right time. His Foot speed is still faster than 95% of all Boxers in the Planet. His balance improved. He's becoming efficient with his punches.

Roach tweak Pac a little bit. He's still an in and out attacker. He's still use the relax then Explode technique. Pac's using less Jab, jab Straight combination. Very unpredictable now.

I think Pac has matured mentally as a fighter. Many thought he's not an intelligent fighter but his recent interview in PI he mentioned that when he was still in Grade school he was in top of the Class. I think Pac now realized how superior he is athletically against almost anybody in boxing. With this fight with Diaz, he used a lot of mobility to stay away from Diaz's counter. I think you will see a lot of Pac the boxer-Puncher in his next fights. I think he enjoys being a boxer now. BUt the KO will still be there as Pac throws more hooks now, those punches opponents will never see coming.

Be ready Hatton and Valero... you're next!!!!

 

Lol. Yea it seems important at this weight and with this diversity in styles that he be able to make his own adjustments. At the lower weights he seemed fine with having a solid gameplan from his trainer and just going out and doing his thing with attrition.

The mental aspect will be key in being able to utilize both styles.

 

Katsidis, Juan Diaz and Hatton are the guys who are tailor made for Pac. These guys has short arms and will be a target Practise for Pac's Jab and Right hooks. If they get any closer there's the Pac's famous Lethal Straight Left and hooks they have to deal with.

Campbell I think is too overrated here in ESB. Who the hell did he beat??? The overated Juan Diaz?? I think Guzzy beat him although I will root for Campbell. Pac will KO Campbell if he got hit flush.

When all these guys are all sorted out I think Pac will only bother with JMM and Guzzy.

For now Valero/Hatton. I'm still wishing for a Pac-DLH.

 

Pacquiao got some hard shots in, in the JMM rematch, but he still imo got outboxed pretty handily.....

I never thought that Pacquiao was a terrible boxer to start with.
Go back and look at his first fight with MAB.
Not a masterclass display of boxing by Pacquiao against MAB, but MAB did try to box with Pacquiao and was getting mauled regardless.
It was'nt just Pac's left that was scoring vs MAB, he was landing on MAB two fisted.

.....but I do agree, Pac is more concious that he has to incorporate more boxing to his game, specifically now that he's fighting at 135 lbs.

He did great boxing vs David Diaz, but that was expected by most in boxing.
How much better is Pac's boxing compared to a few years back, is hard to tell.
Diaz was'nt a good barometer as he is'nt a good boxer. JMM was'nt a good barometer because technically, he may be the best boxer in existence today. Certainly one could'nt say that Pac is'nt a better boxer compared to years previous because he did'nt outbox JMM, because in JMM, we're talking the very elite as far as boxing is concerned.

We've seen Pac recently against a great boxer in JMM, and a poor and slow boxer in David Diaz.
I think a better barometer for me to tell how far Pac has come as a boxer, is to see how he does against good and very good boxers.
If Pac outboxed the pants out of say someone like Campbell, who's in that good to very good range, I'd be impressed.

Time will tell, if Pac really has evolved leaps and bounds from what he was in years prior.
I think Pac's improved, but I'm not convinced that its the leaps and bounds thats talked about in this thread and threads like these.

 

i agree with you on all your points, thats why i'd like to see him against campbell. JMM is just a highly leveled boxer, while david is poor on the other hand. I kept saying this thats why we need further proof at pac at 135

 

Pac's 2 sluggish fight with MAB & JMM was due to the straining of making 130 lbs. It's all documented Pac has a hard time making 130 with those fights.