Who would you pick to beat...

I agree, pac would get slaughtered by canto.Miguel was not one to get overconfident or careless like Sasakul, who also could probably have won the first arbachakov fight had he not taken his foot of the gas in the late rounds.

Ohba, harada and Chang would be my main picks for beating Canto.Zapata i think should be able to as well, but he would need to be on point offensively and not coasting along, otherwise it would likely be very close.

 

I have seen the Sasakul fight. I saw him working the body exceptionally well, throwing combinations, slipping shots, and setting up shots well. Sasakul did not get careless, he was taking heavy shots and eventually got knocked cold.

 

Pacquaio has improved dramtically as a fighter. When he was fighting in his early days and even up until he fought the first fights with Barrera and Marquez, he was one handed and predictable. His right hand wasn't a 'telling' punch when he threw combinations. His jab is being used more often these days, and he also hooks off it now. He's simply became a two fisted and well rounded aggressive fighter.

 

Not only that, but he seems to be evolving into quite the technician under Roache.

 

sasakul was toying with him and backed straight up to the ropes of his own free will, letting Pac take a few free shots, one of which hit him on the throat and stopped him.

pac got through with the odd big shot and had briefly hurt him earlier, but again it seemed to be because sasakul was coasting along in third gear, totally underestimating his unkown, raw opponent.

A sham as i wanted to see Sasakul fight Johnson .

 

Walter McGowan against Canto would of been a great fight. Walter was a brilliant boxer and barring cuts could have caused an upset.

 

I completely disagree, and saw hardly any of that. I saw Pacquiao getting basically taken to school by a far superior technician who did get careless and ****ed himself over by coasting, as Mantequilla said. Pacquiao had speed and power, hardly any skills or versatility whatsoever. Pacquiao was setting up shots? When? With what? Last I checked you couldn't set up left straights with previous left straights.

He was hardly effective any other way, and only when Sasakul decided to step off the gas, otherwise his clear technical deficiencies were getting badly exposed, and would against pretty much any other top Flyweight technician.

 

SRL at Welter (beside Duran)-my pick is always just Robinson here, and that's close.

Jofre at Bantam- the one i consider would be Olivares, but that is more because of these two being most probably the best h2h the division has had, not because of a stylistic analysis, as i would still likely pick Jofre ultimately there. Kudos to Sweet Pea offering Brown for this one, made me think, and the styles matchup makes it a solid choice at least.

Canto at Fly (you can include straw-superflyweights if you like)- i was thinking about the great ones at the weight and i dont favour the likes of Perez, Wilde, Lynch etc etc. Lopez is a good choice, but im nowere near sold on that one.

Ali at Heavy- to be honest imo he is the best h2h hw has seen, people will think Holmes because convention says a great jab like his can neutralise speed, but look at Ali's weaknesses, and Ali was good enough a fighter to warrant having his own personal weaknesses rather than us just looking at 'what are the weaknesses of a guy who has his style'. Holmes could be very aggressive but was primarily a boxer lets have it right. He may still be as good a choice as any because of his quality, but i wouldnt personally favour a man over Ali at HW.

Holyfield at Cruiser (but no past heavyweights...only dedicated cruisers and past light heavies...so that means no Marciano but someone like Charles is cool)- Strictly at cruiser i dont favour any we've seen, but with the light heavys i would favour Charles personally.

Monzon at Middle- i have debated this one for the favour of either man on the topic of him vs. Robinson.

Foster at light heavy- Loughran? who knows?

Sweet Pea at Lightweight- the only man i would consider beating him and vice versa is Duran.

 

Harada is an obvious choice I missed, and Chang wasn't too far off at Flyweight.

 

I watched the fight right before he fought Marquez II and remember that he was doing far more than simply throwing straight lefts all night. He started connecting in round 5 and would feint jabs, throw jabs, hook and uppercut to set up the left. Did Sasakul get careless as you and Mantequilla say -or did he get tired? He looked winded to me in the corner before the 8th and had been taken hard shots for about 3 rounds. I think that the pressure got to him. Now, I'd easily agree that Manny was not what he has become, but he was strong and hit very hard and he was not the technical dunce you remember.

--Regardless of how technical efficient or deficient he was, I wouldn't be so dismissive of any fighter with his natural assets alone. Sasakul was never stopped before that fight and was stopped once more in his 68th and what may be his final bout last summer. Manny was an underdog in that fight and went right to Thailand to challenge a national idol who as probably the best flyweight in the world at that time -and Manny beat him. I have a feeling that in about 10 years Pacquaio may be considered among the best -ever, and then many will take another look at his early career... So for now we'll just have to disagree.

 

I recently listed Pacquiao as one of the fighters I dislike on another thread a few days ago. I'll take that back to some degree as he's somewhere between 'likeable' and 'dislikeable' along with Jones and Leonard. His overall style isn't to my taste, although I did enjoy his demolition of Diaz.

He's improved as a fighter. I think since the rematch with Morales was the begining of those improvements. Regular use of the right hand; hooking off the jab, and also the jab alone is a more jolting tool. More fluid and crisp when putting his punches together with both hands, and the right being a damaging weapon in the proccess. Better balance. Patience when setting up his attacks and counter-punching. He's also using his head and thinking about the offense coming his way.

He was prone to using the jab as a range finder and leaping in with his straight lefts before the adjustments above.

 

Good observations, Robbi.

I was surprised to read that a few posters dislike Pacquiao. I find him to be a damn, DAMN good fighter... already "great" by beating the 3 Mexicans who we don't even have to name. He also strikes me as humble, down-to-earth, generous to a fault, committed to boxing to a fault, and gracious. He is also particularly dangerous because here is a man who fights for his country... a poor country at that. That kind of determination is what I'd call "transcendent determination" -many Mexican greats have it. Duran had it first by fighting in the name of another poor country that had nothing else but a canal, and later by fighting for redemption. Hagler had that angry, underdog pride, Robinson had the pride of a Greek hero like Achilles or someone like that. Oscar's determination, by comparison is rooted in ego these days ...and that just isn't as deep as Manny's.

Many are looking at their upcoming fight as just another mismatch between a good little man and a good big man. I don't. I'm taking Pacquiao. You heard it hear first. Details as to why later or in another relevant thread.

 

Yeah, when i keep watching footage of Foster it looks increasingly more and more of a terrible matchup for him. But Foster though, it must be said, regardless of comp level imo, is truly prolific at the weight and was dominant at it. You really never know with the highest level of greatness.