Looking at a Potential Pacquiao vs. Brook Fight:
As of last Saturday’s win over Shawn Porter, Kell Brook is officially a member of the welterweight alphabet world titleholders club. It’s a prestigious and exclusive group, as he joins the likes of Floyd Mayeather and Manny Pacquiao. In fact, ProBoxing-Fans.com now rates him as the #2 welterweight in the world, behind only top contender Pacquiao and champion, Mayweather.
Brook is the newest entrant on the scene, and it is worth considering how he would fare were he to challenge those older, more reputed members. Floyd Mayweather has a clear career plan for the time being, but let us imagine Manny Pacquiao got bored of fighting the Chris Algieri’s and Brandon Rios’ of this world and decided to fight Brook. How would a Pacquiao vs. Brook fight play out? With his size, skill and youth, Brook could be a nightmare for Pacquiao.
Pacquiao made his mark at 147 lbs with a whirling dervish style that forced people to pay attention. While it’s important not to forget how good he once was, his best performances were half a decade ago – a long time in boxing, meaning that although they are historically important, they mean little when discussing his chances today.
Pacquiao’s victory of Tim Bradley added gloss to the comeback from his decisive knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, but it remains clear that Pacquiao is not what he used to be. Some even noted signs of slippage from comparing his return win over Bradley to their first meeting, which ended in controversial defeat for the Filipino. Pacquiao thinks a split second longer now and where once he stormed down the stretch he now meanders.
Brook, on the other hand, is in the prime of his career. Questions were asked as to how much he had left after years of injury and missed opportunity, though they were deflected with his all-around boxing performance against Porter. The Sheffield man has pop, boxes with intelligence and has now shown he can take a shot at the highest level, answering another oft-asked question.
Brook would be the bigger man against Pacquiao, and he would no doubt use his height and reach, along with his technical skills and refined punching, to try and outmaneuver the incoming two-fisted assaults of Pacquiao. In fending off the smaller, aggressively minded Porter, we perhaps saw a preview of what Brook would try to accomplish against Pacquiao as well. Pacquiao is of course of a different class, with a world of big-fight experience to bank on, but Brook presents a unique combination of skill, size and capability to challenge him.
It is unlikely Pacquiao could outbox the Englishman, that’s clear. Brook is noted for his agility and reflexes and would most likely refuse to trade with the smaller man early on as he felt his way into the fight. Pacquiao would have to be quick on his feet, getting in and out without giving Brook the opportunity to tie up on the inside, but at the same time Pacquiao would have to be intelligent in his aggression to avoid being caught with flush, hard counters on his way in and out.
The likelihood is that Brook would be too strong and fresh, combined with a fighting strategy that Pacquiao would find awkward, to say the least. Regardless of the potential outcome, however, there is no doubt that Brook is a worthwhile challenger to the iconic Pinoy.
