So finally the match that the entire world has been wanting to see is about to occur in 2010? Say it ain’t so, I can remember just a few years ago this dream match was proposed all through internet forums and the majority of people said it was a mismatch. My how Manny Pacquiao has come along way from just a left handed fighter with talent to the Pound 4 Pound #1 fighter in the world.
Manny Pacquiao really impressed me with his dominant victory over Miguel Cotto. He out slugged the slugger and out punched the puncher with superior speed & power. That was the perfect tune up match before facing Floyd “Money” Mayweather in what looks to be a very intriguing clash of styles. This more than anything is the most important factor to me in this fight, how will each fighter deal with the others style? Lets take a brief look…..
Mayweather being an orthodox fighter and is right handed but can fight with both hands effectively is always rumored to have trouble with southpaws. I beg to differ due to the simple fact that there is no evidence to support those claims. Mayweather has probably the best straight right hand in boxing and against his past south paw opponents he has totally dominated them with it…..
Floyd Mayweather vs DEMARCUS CORLEY
Mayweather Landed 47% of his 50 punches per round and 53% of his power shots.
Mayweather Outlanded Corley 283-150 in total punches.
Mayweather Dropped Corley in 8th & 10th rounds, landing 28 power shots in 8th & 34 in 10th.
Mayweather Finished strong, outlanding Corley 120-44 in power shots over last 5 rounds.
Scoring: 119-107; 118-108; 119-108 Mayweather UD
Floyd Mayweather vs Zab Judah
Mayweather dropped first 2 rounds on 2 cards after getting outlanded 11-5 in power shots in opening 6 minutes. Start of round 3 All Floyd from then on, as he outlanded Judah 153-53 in power shots, including 28-2 in the 9th. Judah landed in single digits in total connects in 10 of 12 rounds.
Overall, Mayweather landed 205 of 441 (46%) total punches to 89 of 485 (18%) for Zab.
Floyd also landed 158 of 322 (49%) power shots to 64 of 177 (36%) for Judah, who managed to land just 25 of 308 jabs (8%).
Scoring: 116-112; 117-111; 119-109. Mayweather UD
I know what people are going to say, “Well those guys are nothing like Manny Pacquiao” and they would be absolutely correct in saying that. However, Zab Judah and Demarcus Corley are counter punching southpaws which makes it more difficult for Mayweather to find openings. Manny Pacquiao not being a counter punching southpaw makes it easier for Mayweather to let his offense off because the Pac Man will be in attack mode allowing for easy countering opportunities. I could be wrong.
Manny Pacquiao being a south paw has trouble with boxers who are able to use their right hand effectively and counter punch…..*cough*cough* Morales & Marquez. If we look at the last time the Pac Man faced Marquez which was March of 2008 you will see that Marquez had no issues countering the aggression of Pacquiao. The 2nd Marquez fight was just last year and its no coincidence that Team Pac hasnt put Manny in with any right hand dominant fighters or counter punchers as those fighters make Manny’s unstoppable work rate very average.
Diaz= flat footed, no defense, no right hand, stood right in front of Pac DLH= Flat footed, left hand dominant, no defense, no right hand,stood right in front of Pac Hatton= No boxing skills, quick feet, cocks his hand before he punches, no defense, no right hand, stood right in front of Pac Cotto= flat footed, left hand dominant, no defense, stood right in front of Pac
None of Pac’s last 4 opponents have had any of the tools to offset his speed, aggression & southpaw stance.
Marquez-Pacquiao 2
Marquez (who is the same size as Manny) outboxed & outlanded The New and Improved Pacquiao. Manny’s speed and aggression was nullified by Marquez’s superiority in power punches as he went 122 of 339 (36 percent) to Pacquiao’s 100 of 231 (43 percent). Overall, Marquez held the slight edge with his 158 of 547 (29 percent) output as opposed to Pacquiao’s 148 of 639 (23 percent).
The knock down was the difference but what stood out is that a stationary,flat footed Marquez was able to hit Manny easily throughout their 2nd fight. That leads me to believe that Mayweather will have similar success…if not better!
Being that Mayweather is the best defensive fighter in boxing, has one of the best straight right hands, and isnt a stationary fighter, how will Pac’s relenteless work rate be effective when a fighter isnt right in front of him? How will he deal with exchanging punches with a fighter who’s hand speed is just as fast, who is taller, who has a longer reach than he has, better combination puncher & is the more accurate puncher? If anyone can over come these questions it will be the Great Manny Pacquiao. We shall see……….
