Pacquiao Should be Thankful Mayweather Fight Hasn’t Gotten Done in the Past:
Although the blinkered Pacfans continue to deny it, it is clear to rest of the world that Manny Pacquiao was very lucky indeed to score a Majority Decision against Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12. Only slightly less clear is that Manny Pacquiao was very lucky that Floyd Mayweather has consistently scuppered the proposed Pacquiao vs. Mayweather superfight for the last two years, because the close outcome of the Marquez fight clearly demonstrates that Pacquiao’s defensive improvements were overstated, and that good counter-punching technique gives the Filipino hurricane fits.
Even Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, acknowledges as much. He was plainly disappointed with the outcome of the rubber match with Marquez, and stated in plain English that Pacquiao needed more work on dealing with counter-punchers. Noticeably absent from Roach’s post-fight interview was a calling out of Mayweather. Even seeing Roach on television, I caught the palpable feeling of a man who knew he had dodged a bullet vis-a-vis Mayweather.
This is not to say that the outcome of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is a foregone conclusion, especially for the future. While both Mayweather and Marquez are renowned for their counter-punching prowess, they are two markedly different fighters. “Dinamita” is a rugged Mexican boxer-puncher. Like many Mexican warriors, he brings a concrete chin, aggression, tenacity and two-fisted power to the ring. Unlike many Mexicans, however, he also has excellent hand speed and world class counter-punching skills.
“Pretty Boy” is noted first and foremost as the successor to Pernell Whitaker as boxing’s defensive grand master. Pound-for-pound, he has the best reflexes in the game today, and if Mayweather does not have the speediest hands around, he is certainly tied for first place in that category.
The most obvious difference any comparison between Marquez and Mayweather draws out is that Pretty Boy is a conventional, defensive counter-puncher, albeit one based on superlative skills and physical talent. Marquez is a different and much odder creature, an offensive counter-puncher. Ergo, it does not algebraically follow that because Marquez was whipped by Mayweather, and Marquez is evenly matched with Pacquiao, that Mayweather would rout Pacquiao. Furthermore, it is certain that everything Roach and Pacquiao do in the gym and the ring from this point forward will be aimed squarely at correcting Pacquiao’s deficit.
However, as already stated by none other than Freddie Roach, Pacquiao is vulnerable to counter-punching tactics. If Mayweather vs. Pacquiao had gone ahead, Pretty Boy would have zeroed in on that deficit and produced a much harder struggle for Pacman. At a minimum, Pacquiao would have gone in to the fight with a clear disadvantage that likely would have taken both him and Roach by surprise. All things considered, Pacquiao would have needed a knockout to win a fight like that, and it’s hard to see him kayoing a slick customer like Mayweather if Pretty Boy were in control of the fight.
Whether Mayweather aborted the contest with Pacquiao due to cowardice (as the Pacfans declare) or out of sheer ego (as I maintain), he shot himself in the foot and at the same time did Pacquiao and Roach an enormous favor. By the same score, by avoiding a rubber match with Marquez for three years, Pacquiao and Roach also lost time to make necessary improvements. The bottom line, however, is that Pacquiao and his trainer had a lot to be thankful for this past Thanksgiving.
