We've heard a lot about Manny no longer having his 'killer instinct'. Does this basically mean knocking guys out? Because if that is the reason, it seems pretty shoddy. It just seems like a loose, meaningless term. If I was to hazard a guess, I would say it's when someone goes out to really hurt another fighter, with malice. Like "if he dies, he dies" attitude. Who really has the 'killer instinct' then? Manny? Is he a vicious man deep down? Kovalev and Beterbiev strike me as two guys who are like this. Vitali when he was about too.
Good stuff. Well, if Manny has Floyd hurt in this fight - he'll definitely go in for the kill. He tried like a maniac in round five of the 4th Marquez fight. So it's still there. The guy has it deep down.
It means not being like Vlad Klitchko who is content to just throw jabs for the first 10 rds. He waits until there is almost no risk of taking a shot & then maybe tries to kayo his opponent. Basically it's a fighter who is afraid to take risks & stinks out the joint.:tired
...except for, you know, five months ago, when he knocked out the fourth or so best HW in the world by the 5th, with the first couple of knockdowns registered in the 1st. ...and, only two of his last seven opponents have made it past the sixth. ...but otherwise, yeah.
As Manny has become a better "boxer", he's been able to move around opponents, out pointing them. And as he has discovered this, he's lost a piece of him that once made him so exciting to watch. When you back an animal into a corner, and it feels threatened with no other choice but to attack....it attacks! That was Manny when he was ascending through the boxing ranks. He only knew one way, to attack. As he perfected his craft, and tuned his skills, he found there is another way to win fights (besides attacking ). And that is the "killer instinct" people say he lost. I wonder what will happen if he ever gets in the ring with someone again that his skills aren't good enough to beat, and he feels backed into a corner again....