By Vitali Shaposhnikov: Manny Pacquiao was able to show against Shane Mosley, what we have already seen and recognize in him: power and speed. He is a freight train in every sense of the word, cutting through his opposition as if they were made of paper. Pacquiao made an easy night of Mosley, or at least he made it look that way.
Watching Pacquiao dominate Mosley was a brand new learning experience for me, and I was able to confirm a few things that I had considered before:
1) Mosley is ready to retire. Blaming his age or physical attributes is unnecessary, as they were not the issue. He still looked pretty fast and his punches, as few as he threw were crisp. Shane’s footwork was also very impressive, as he was able to avoid a majority of Pacquiao’s power punches. The main issue was the fact that he simply doesn’t let his hands go. Whether its fear or sorts, or hesitation, there were just too many openings and clear opportunities that Mosley could have, but didn’t take advantage of. This says a lot about Mosley’s ability to commit, and just as much about Pacquiao’s wide punching, leaving numerous openings that could be abused. Seeing Mosley run away in the ring did not feel good, and was painful to watch from a fan’s perspective. He was acting scared, and was in the survival mode for the majority of the fight. Retiring now is a good way to go for Mosley, as there are no more mega fights out there that fans wish to see him be a part of.
2) Manny Pacquiao is a fairly sloppy fighter. If not for his mind blowing power and punch volume, Pacquiao would not be where he is today. His accuracy decreases a lot when he throws high volume against a fighter able to deflect them. Margarito for instance, only blocked, acting as if he were a punching bag. Remaining stationary, give Pacquiao the opportunity to land all his shots with great accuracy. Shane on the other hand swapped a lot of them away, making the remainder of Pacquiao’s barrage go off balance. I thought Mosley did a great job in getting away from Pacquiao, and causing him to miss with those wild wide shots, the same ones that create an opportunity for a direct counter.
3) With what I have seen from Mosley: his ability to avoid Paquiao’s onslaught and create openings, I am now much more confident that Floyd Mayweather Jr. would make a fairly short night of Pacquiao and his sloppy style. If Mayweather was to take advantage of at least half of those opportunities that Mosley didn’t, Pacquiao would be in trouble. One thing that Pacquiao possesses like no other is the will, bravery, and ability to walk right through punches just to give his own. Once he gets his combination going, he rarely stops for any reason. Still, he missed a lot of well planned shots against Mosley, something that Mayweather could easily replicate.
4) Who did a better job against Mosley, Pacquiao or Mayweather Jr.? This is highly debatable, because a lot of people are going to lean towards Pacquiao due to the fact that he made Mosley run. I would have to disagree and say that Mayweather Jr. was far more effective and landed more meaningful shots against the older veteran. If noticed, Mosley was on the defensive for a while against Mayweather Jr. as well, but Floyd was able to create and find openings, giving himself the opportunity to land. Tactics and ring smarts are essential in a fight like this, and Pacquiao had everything but that. His power and speed was what he relied on, and evidently it was more than enough to win the fight. I think that if Pacquiao gave Mosley a little more room to make mistakes of his own, he would have knocked him out. Essentially, a win is a win, but if a knockout was what they were looking for, their strategy was all wrong.
In any case, Manny Pacquiao did what he does best, and showed that he is a tremendous fighter. Once again, he displayed himself in a very aggressive yet inspiring fashion against Shane Mosley, and I wholeheartedly congratulate him on his victory!