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Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) is going to attempt to use an old strategy from his youth this Saturday night in trying to beat the 39-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) in their pay per view bout on HBO at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Pacquiao said to the sports.inquirer.net “I intend to attack him, pressure him.”
In his sparring sessions, Pacquiao has been overwhelming his less talented sparring partners in short four round sparring events. However, going all out in short sparring against over-matched sparring partners isn’t going to be the same as what Pacquiao will be dealing with on Saturday night against Marquez. He’s not a sparring partner, and this isn’t going to be a four round fight.
If Pacquiao goes all out in the first four rounds, he’s likely to gas out in the second half of the fight like he did against Tim Bradley last June and possibly lose. I say possibly because Pacquiao has fought poorly enough to lose all three fights with Marquez and yet he’s been given two wins and a draw in those three fights. So, it’s possible Pacquiao can struggle and still win, but it’s going to convince the boxing public if he wins like that. Pacquiao has to without controversy this time because it’s becoming a sad joke that he’s getting win after win against Marquez in fights that the boxing public are seeing Pacquiao lose.
Pacquiao says he’s going to try and overwhelm Marquez with pressure and punches to see if that will work like he did when Pacquiao was beating lesser known foes at flyweight, super bantamweight and lightweight. Back then, Pacquiao was a punching machine and he would basically steamroll over his weaker opposition.
However, since moving up division after division to arrive at welterweight, Pacquiao no longer appears capable of fighting with that kind of intensity and pressure that he did years ago. It’s like having a small car with a big engine and then adding a ton of weight to it and expecting it to still go as fast as it once did. It’s not been working for Pacquiao, and perhaps the answer to his problems is his weight gain. He’s fighting at a higher weight and looking to be the fighter he once was at a lighter weight.
