The Blueprint 08.17.09: Game Over for Pac-Man

Posted by Patrick Mullin on 08.17.2009

The debut of what's sure to be the greatest thing since Milli met Vanilli.

Hello readers and welcome to 411 Boxing's newest column, The Blueprint! You may have read our sister column over in the MMA section… coincidentally written by your's truly. Generally, the idea for the column is that we take the best pound for pound fighters in the sport and break down their weaknesses, and who has the best chance to take advantage of them and beat them.



We're kicking things off with a bang. Our subject is none other than the currently ranked best fighter in the sport, Manny Pacquiao. If there's any active fighter in the sport who has looked more impressive as of late than Pac-Man I haven't seen them. Conquering champion by champion and weight class by weight class, Pacquiao has been as dominant as any fighter in history. How the hell can you beat him? Well lets read on.

1) Aggression - No, I don't mean you should go out there and try to bring the fight to Manny Pacquiao. Not unless you have a death wish at least, because then I'm pretty sure he'll be happy to imitate Charles Bronson for you.

Pacquiao is an aggressive fighter. He's going to come to you and impose his will. He's going to fire off rapid combinations at you as much as he possibly can. The best option you seemingly have is to allow Pacquiao to do this in round one to gauge where he's going to take things. Let Pacquiao do what he wants you say? You say it seems crazy? Why not tell that to Juan Manuel Marquez. In his two fights with Manny Pacquiao, Marquez allowed Manny to assert himself early so that he could figure out a proper game plan during the fight rather than have to rely on a predetermined game plan.



What resulted were the two closest fights of Pacquiao's career, one being a draw and one being a victory via split decision. Had Marquez not suffered four knockdowns against Pacquiao, we could be having a very different discussion right now. Don't let Pacquiao walk all over you, but at the same time take a little bit of what he has to offer in order to fully comprehend what you can throw back at him.

We've already mentioned Pacquiao's arch-nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez. Quite honestly would anyone NOT want a third fight between these two? Furthermore, does anyone not believe Marquez is capable of victory over Pacquiao? Another counter-puncher who really doesn't get enough credit for the ability is Pacquiao's next opponent Miguel Cotto. In his fights with Mohamed Abdulaev and Alfonso Gomez among others, Cotto has shown a certain aptitude for being able to effectively fight off of the back foot and counter with power shots at aggressive opponents.

2) Chin - Yes, Pacquiao has taken shots from guys like Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Juan Manuel Marquez, all respected as power hitters. But that was at as high as 130 pounds. Manny is treading into higher and higher waters and along with that comes bigger and heavier hitters. While campaigning at or around 147 pounds he's going to see a fair share of power punchers. Pacquiao has been rocked by Oscar Larios. Larios is a world class fighter, but he naturally fights at 122 pounds and isn't considered a power puncher in that division, and he fought Pacquiao at 130 pounds.



The welterweight division is home to Miguel Cotto, "Sugar" Shane Mosley, and 140 pounders who can hit but move up for fun like Juan Urango. Pacquiao has made smart adjustments to his defensive capabilities, but he can't afford to get into shoot-outs at 140 and 147 the way he did in the lower weight classes he fought in. While he certainly has seemed to carry his punching power up with him, it remains to be seen how he'll handle taking more than a few fleeting power shots from a natural welterweight.

3) Ailing Freddie Roach - This isn't a pleasant subject, but its one we have to realistically look at when speaking on potential weaknesses of Manny Pacquiao. As a result from complications stemming from his combination of Parkinson's Disease and Dystonia, Freddie Roach has scaled back his workload and has already had his new head assistant Michael Moorer take his place cornering some of his fighters. There is no better game plan man in the sport than Roach, and he and Manny have a bond very much like a father and son. How would Pacquiao be able to deal without the presence of Roach in his corner?


One question mark I have about Manny is would he be able to make adjustments during a fight on his own? Without Freddie Roach recognizing every facet of what Pacquiao's opposition is going to do, can Manny do it or would say Michael Moorer be able to recognize and figure out a way to neutralize it the way Freddie would? Its very possible that Manny has been able to pick up these skills under Freddie's tutelage, its entirely possible he may just be relying on Freddie to do it for him.

Who Can Beat Him?


Shane Mosley Even Money - While Freddie Roach is the master game planner, a close second would have to be the man in Shane's corner Naazim Richardson. Richardson is a student of Bouie Fischer, the long time trainer of Bernard Hopkins. In only one fight with Richardson as his chief second, we saw Shane make numerous adjustments and look better than ever at age 37 dominating noted cheater Antonio Margarito over 9 one-sided rounds before TKO'ing him. Shane is also the naturally bigger guy, and so long as the fight was set at no lighter than 145 pounds Shane stands just as good a chance to beat Manny as vice versa. Should Shane try to drain himself for a lower catch weight, he'll wind up looking like Oscar De La Hoya did against Manny.

Miguel Cotto 2:1 - He's a great counter puncher, a naturally bigger man, and he can take a heck of a punch. However one attribute that Cotto shares with Pacquiao is a championship heart. The man has a will made of iron and a resolve you just can't break. If anyone is going to really push Manny in a war of attrition its Miguel Cotto. The only real disparity that I see giving Miguel problems is the speed of Pacquiao. Miguel tends to show disadvantages to guys with fast hands, such as when Zab Judah was able to trouble him. Manny could exploit this and use it to win a decision or cut Cotto and try to earn a stoppage.


Juan Manuel Marquez 3:1 - Generally all great fighters have a persistent rival. Much the way Roberto Duran had Esteban DeJesus, or Bazooka Limon, Bobby Chacon, and Boza-Edwards all had each other, Pacquiao has Marquez. While you'd have to give Manny an edge due to holding a victory in their rivalry and getting bigger and better before our eyes. Nobody in their right mind would rule out a Marquez victory though.

And honestly those are really the only three guys I give a shot to at 147 and below. Leave some comments to make me chuckle or fawn depending.