So How Did Manny Really Fare Against Marquez?
Well one thing I can say is that Manny can punch. That is something that you can see clearly after the fight. During the fight, well, it’s not very apparent. I’ve seen several right hooks coming from Pacquiao that connected clearly with Marquez’ right face but because Juan was so damn tough that those punches were actually absorbed by Marquez’ neck muscles without him appearing to be wobbled. Manny however, with his damn hair, had people oohing and aching whenever he gets hit by Marquez as Manny’s hair, lovingly maintained by Head and Shoulders shampoo– one of his endorsed products, bounced beautifully all over the place. Which leads us to the first advise to Manny Pacquiao; get a freaking crew cut before the fight.
Nacho Beristain’s pre-fight prediction that a more refined Manny Pacquiao would mean an easier fight to them was spot on in my opinion. By turning into a more refined puncher with good balance and well thrown punches, the Pacman has tempered his vaunted aggression with a thinking punchers approach. I don’t like to say this but when it comes to a cerebral approach to boxing, Manny loses big time to Juan Manuel. Juan Manuel has been doing it all his life and Manny trying to introduce this new facet of his, the thinking puncher’s approach, is just playing into Marquez’ game. Which was what happened. Marquez can sense Pacquiao’s hesitation, sees through most of his feints, and acted on his boxing instinct that was honed in years and years of reacting to specific situations. This is the reason why Manny was becoming less and less effective against Marquez as he seems to develop his skills more and more.
I think Roach’s strategy of waiting for Marquez to come in, utilize hand speed, and land power shots backfired. Roach gave his hand away when he mentioned during interviews that Marquez was bulking for the sole reason of trying to trade with Manny. Marquez did trade alright but he did so in spurts and during those times when Manny has committed to his feint or when he’s hesitating or just starting to launch something. Marquez read Manny very well that he was very effective during that fight.
But as I mentioned, Marquez’ face after the bout says everything that happened during the fight. Lacerations all over his face meant that Manny was connecting frequently although those frequent hits weren’t the impressive kind of hits that most people and rabid fans have been accustomed to. These hits were like taps compared to the full blown power shots that Manny landed in his earlier fights, but they were there. And I think the judges saw these punches and resulted to the majority decision.
The fight fans only saw the flying hair, the head snapping back and thought that’s all there is to it. There are other kinds of punches too you know. And although those punches were not exactly thudding or ones that can cause concussions, those punches that Manny threw lacerated Marquez’ face. Marquez was primed for this fight, he trained really hard, and really well for it so his conditioning was topnotch. Had he been less conditioned, I don’t think he would have been able to just absorb some of those right hooks that smashed to the side of his head when he’s coming in for a straight right.
Overall, I think it’s a fair verdict. Marquez thought that he could have won based on the ‘clearer’ punches that he felt he landed which were aided in no small way by the Head and Shoulders pampered Pacquiao hair. Don’t believe me? Well take a look at Manny’s face right after the fight. You might think that by getting those ‘big’ shots, he should have at least show swellings in his face right but look at these pictures.
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