Just Right
Pacquiao The Great
In a fight aptly called "The Battle," Erik Morales of Mexico and Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines answered the first bell to chart their claim to boxing greatness. Although they were considered two of the best pound for pound boxers today, only the victor can lay a stake to continued fame. The loser was to face a waning prospect of more lucrative fights. They were two of the most bankable fighters in boxing; but their very reason for being such has brought them into a collision course that was mutually exclusive. One had to be sacrificed in order to catapult the other to greater heights. And that's because they took all comers and assumed a daredevil approach to their craft. Pacquiao was, a born aggressor, Morales was, by choice, a warrior who often times abandoned his talents just to oblige his opponents' challenge to a brawl. It was, perforce, a perfect match up.
Like a runaway train, Pacquiao, powered his way to victory over a legendary fighter known for his rock solid chin and prodigious boxing skills. Last Sunday's fight started like the first encounter. For then, the first fight defined the conflict that was to develop between them. The fighter who can push the other back will win. But as the fight wore on, it was evident that Pacquiao refused to budge. He was pushed but he pushed harder. While Morales dictated the tempo during the first five rounds, and won rounds 1, 3, 4, and 5, Pacquiao did the more damage that was to take its toll in the latter rounds. Imagine this. Of the 195 punches that Pacquaio connected, 171 were power punches. They were of such intensity that Pacquiao's hands swelled.
What made the difference? I previously wrote that Pacquiao was developing skills that were nearing their competence. And he entered the ring that Saturday night as a complete package. His foundation was his footwork. True, he displayed a great right hook, a good uppercut and a searing combination, but Pacquaio could not have possibly landed these punches if he was not in the right position and at the right distance. His foot speed saw to it that he was in the right place to deliver his punches. He was able to slip a Morales straight and throw a left to the breadbasket. He threw left leads and almost simultaneously sidestepped to the right. to avoid a Morales counter. This new move looked like a left hook because of the side step, but I think it is the same old left straight that was reinforced with better footwork. His lateral movements gave him more angles to deliver a right, left, right, combination with the staccato of a machine gun. In fact, the first knockdown in the tenth round came after Morales threw a right that grazed Pacquaio's shoulder. Pacquaio stepped to the left while Morales ducked. And it was then that Pacquaio threw that left straight that sent Morales to the canvass.
They say that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. But Pacquaio had these latent skills all along. They simply atrophied because his old right left combination served him so well he or his trainers probably never bothered to sharpen his other skills. It took a draw with Juan Manuel Marquez and a loss to Morales to awaken his long slumbering strengths. And so a new fighter has emerged from his cocoon. The man who walked through six weight divisions, from 106 pounds to 130 pounds, to perhaps become the Philippine's greatest boxer.