By Milo Matray
In boxing you need a good offensive and an even better defense to be a complete fighter. Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley are no defensive wizards, but I give Shane the upperhand in that department.
You see, Shane Mosley only has trouble against defensive fighters and counter punchers, but he does well against aggression, and who is more aggressive than Manny Pacquiao? Nobody.
Shane’s form of defense is to clinch and tie up when he gets close so you can’t counter him, he roughs you up on the inside and uses his strength to wear you down, especially if you are smaller than him which Pacquiao is.
Manny’s defense is mainly his offense, he doesn’t know how to block or slip punches, he is an exciting wild brawler that the casual fans will find exciting to watch because they don’t really understand the sweet science of boxing.
I am not one of those people who thinks this fight is a mismatch or a bad match-up at all. I think this is a very dangerous fight for Manny Pacquiao and people can say Mosley is old but I just think he was a victim of bad match making by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions when they put him in against defensive fighters Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sergio Mora.
I am favoring Shane Mosley in this fight because he has more advantages over Pacquiao aside from age. Mosley has the experience, he has the power, reach, and size advantages over Manny. I would say Manny and Shane are both equal in foot and handspeed. The only advantage I give to Manny is his stamina, he doesn’t tire out and Shane has shown in the past that he doesn’t have the best gas tank. I wouldn’t consider Pacquiao’s aggression an advantage in this fight, it would actually be detrimental for Manny to go toe to toe with Mosley because he hits like a mule.
I think Manny’s wild aggression will be his downfall against Mosley. Anyone who has watched Manny Pacquiao fight knows he is a warrior and doesn’t back down from exchanges, in fact, if you trade with him and catch him with a good combo, he will come back and answer with his own flurry, but the problem is if he covers up and lets Mosley tee off on him with free shots to the body and chin like he did against Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, Manny will be weakened and won’t have any power on his punches to answer back because the body punches from Mosley will sap his power.
In Manny’s last fight against a slow Antonio Margarito he was hurt to the body and was getting hit too much. Manny needs to be in his best condition to beat Mosley, and he has to move and throw that left hand without getting hit. Manny must not go for the knockout or else he could get knocked out. He has to control his aggression, stay off the ropes and fight the same style of fight he did against Oscar De La Hoya to have a chance against Mosley.
Mosley’s chin will help him withstand Pacquiao’s early onslaught and if he can grab Manny and wear him down then he can take Manny out in the later rounds because Manny has a tendency to drop his hands and go to the ropes after he throws flurries, and Mosley will throw that sneaky power right hand or left hook the moment he sees Manny’s guard is down.
I’m picking Mosley over Pacquiao by stoppage in the later rounds.
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