?His technique is unbelievable. And there is no one better at making adjustments in the ring. He just figures everyone out??
I recently pestered Mike Tyson and Paulie Malignaggi about the upcoming Mayweather vs. Pacquiao showdown. Though Tyson and Malignaggi envisage the bout differently, they both believe that a victorious Pacquiao would need to be a smart thinking Energizer Bunny.
Unlike a lot of boxing experts, Mike Tyson believes that Pacquiao?s cocktail of aggression and elusiveness might prove poisonous to Mayweather: ?Manny has speed and power. He throws a lot of punches. You need to put constant pressure on Floyd. Be in front of him all the time, but moving side to side and punching from angles. Manny is going to feint Floyd out of position a lot and make him throw more punches than he is used to, that will open Floyd up.?
Tyson continued, ?In that second round against Mosley, Floyd showed that he can take a big punch. But he has never had to take a lot of them in succession. He has never really been tested. Whatever happens in this fight, I really think that Floyd is going to be hit and hurt more than he has ever been before. We?re going to see how tough he is.?
A moment later Tyson added, ?In the first round of the second Maidana fight, Maidana hit Mayweather with one good shot. I think it was at the end of the first round. Floyd tried to do a little Ali shuffle after getting hit, but his legs didn?t look that good.?
A sweet scientist if ever there was one, Malignaggi ranks Mayweather amongst the all time best. ?His technique is unbelievable. And there is,? he said, ?no one better at making adjustments in the ring. He just figures everyone out.?
Pressed as to how Pacquiao might have a chance to win, the Magic Man speculated, ?He needs to get in the right position to throw the jab and instead of following it all the time with combinations, Manny has to mix it up. He has to disturb Mayweather?s timing. Manny has to be less predictable. Jab, feint the jab, jab again, and then jab combination.?
And yet, for all that advice, Malignaggi, agrees with Tyson that Pacquiao would need keep the heat on?not for 6 rounds but for 12. The former welterweight champ observed, ?The last time that Pacquiao brought constant pressure was against Cotto back in 2009. In that fight he didn?t just throw a lot of punches, he was throwing big shots all night. He expended so much energy. I don?t know how he did it but he has not pressed anyone like that since then.?
It is true, whether it be tight calves or a sudden surge of compassion, the Pacman of the last few years has taken his foot off of the pedal in the later rounds of his fights. Against Bradley, Rios, and Algieri, Pacquiao was still zinging punches in bunches in the late rounds, but they were not the sort of bombs he was slinging against Cotto in round 11.
A few years back, Alex Ariza confided that Manny was a physical outlier who could get his heart rate up to 205 and keep it there for a few minutes. For Pacquiao to punch a hole in Mayweather?s record, the 36-year-old boxing icon will have to be in the best condition of his life. Equally important, he will need to have the mental muscle to avoid becoming frustrated and chasing Mayweather around, trying to spear the elusive one with one straight left. It is not going to work with Money.
A professor of philosophy at St. Olaf College, Gordon Marino writes on boxing for the Wall Street Journal. He is on the board and works with boxers at the Circle of Discipline in Minneapolis, as well as at the Basement Gym in Northfield, MN. His The Quotable Kierkegaard was recently published by Princeton University Press. You can follow him on Twitter at @GordonMarino.
