I came across Doug Fischer?s breakdown of Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios? strengths and weaknesses?
?Mistakes are the portals of discovery.??James Joyce
?Oh please!??Clarence George
In reading the December issue of the Ring, I came across Doug Fischer?s breakdown of Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios? strengths and weaknesses, in anticipation of their championship bout at the Venetian Resort in Macau on November 23.
Fischer compares the two fighters across 20 categories, such as Hand Speed and Footwork. Well?not quite. Without so much as a by your leave, five of the categories?Body Punching, Infighting Skills, Athleticism, Endurance, and Ability to Slip and Block Punches?compare?Floyd Mayweather Jr. with Saul Alvarez! Imagine my confusion when having just finished reading that ?Rios delivers some of the best uppercuts (both left and right) in the sport,? I?m immediately and unexpectedly informed that ?Mayweather is not known for his body punches, but he occasionally sneaks them into his combinations, and he?s just as accurate with them as he is head shots.?
Fischer?s take on Mayweather?s body-punching skills may be on target?and Ingemar Johansson may have had the most thunderous right hand in the history of the heavyweight division. Fine and dandy, but what either opinion has to do with the Pacquiao-Rios bout escapes me.
The flummoxing process continued upon reading that ?Alvarez has very good punch blocking and slipping ability, which he demonstrated in his distance bouts with Shane Mosley and Trout,? followed by ?Pacquiao isn?t always in 100 percent shape for his fights, but even at 80 percent he?s in better condition than most world class boxers.?
What the??
Following a much-needed and well-deserved shot of Talisker, I calmly assessed the situation. Three possibilities occurred to me. First, Fischer wrote the article shortly after viewing Monty Python?s ?Confuse-a-Cat? sketch. Second, Fischer was planting a seed in the fertile mind of Bob Arum?tag-team boxing. Third, the editing over at ?The Bible of Boxing? leaves something to be desired.
I reluctantly dismissed the first possibility, though it would have been my excuse, and the second, because I have yet to come to terms with bitch mittens, never mind tag teams. So that leaves us with the third?bad editing?really, really bad editing. Follow us on Twitter@boxing_com to continue the discussion
