By Chuy Marco
I find it funny how some biased Manny Pacquiao fans will say that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a runner. Show me a fight where Floyd ran — you can’t! Because Floyd doesn’t run, he knows distance and space and how to get in range and get out. Floyd Mayweather fights in the pocket and slips and counters shots, making guys miss and pay, he never runs, he fights like a man with real boxing skill.
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, the supposed baddest man in boxing, a guy that haters believe Mayweather Jr. fears, actually ran in a fight. He ran a lot when he fought and lost to Erik Morales in their first fight. The two knockout wins of Morales by Pacquiao after that are hollow victories, they don’t mean much because Erik was already shot and drained in both rematches.
If you don’t believe me go to HBO on demand and watch the 2005 Erik Morales vs. Manny Pacquiao fight it’s free for a limited time on HBO on demand. Or look the fight up on YouTube. I watched it and realized how beatable and flawed Pacquiao really is when he fights a guy with an actual pulse and can fight back.
But what made me laugh is how a past his prime Erik Morales had the most feared featherweight at the time, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, running for his life in that fight.
Manny couldn’t even hurt Morales, and when Morales laughed off Pacman’s flurries he chased Pacquiao right back with a barrage of combination punches that caused Manny to run so fast and often times get trapped on the ropes while Morales pounded on him.
Watch the fight again, and you can see there is no improvement or evolution in Manny Pacquiao’s boxing skill, he still uses the same style of boxing up to this day!
The only difference is back then he was with Murad Muhammad a promoter who didn’t cherry pick fights for him, but when he got with Top Rank he was turned into a media creation and fed the proper opponents to help build and hype him into this mythical boxing legend that people are buying into.
Pacquiao fights the same exact way he fought in 2005! His style never changed, only his level of opposition. He now fights weaker opponents on the downside of their career like Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito and now Top Rank and Freddie Roach are hoping that their next opponent Sugar Shane Mosley is washed up worse than Oscar De La Hoya so they can feast on his corps.
Morales is past his prime, but he is a true warrior, and that is why he chose to fight a young deadly Marcos Maidana on April 9th. It’s a shame the supposed best fighter in boxing, Manny Pacquiao, is fighting soft touches and avoiding real challenges. Erik at his twilight years in boxing wants only the best and toughest fights. Morales is a man of honor and he wants to challenge himself and prove to be one of the greatest in boxing history.
Erik Morales has strong self belief, he believes in his skills and himself that he has what it takes to beat the best and toughest, while Manny Pacquiao and his people don’t share the same kind of belief, that’s why they hand pick fights against older legends instead of matching Manny against competitive fighters like Juan Manuel Marquez at 140, Andre Berto at 147 or Sergio Martinez at 154/160.
Manny Pacquiao might make more money than Erik Morales, but Manny will never have the guts or balls that Morales has, and that is something money cannot buy.
P.S. – Check out real warriors on Saturday April 9, 2011 on HBO pay-per-view when Erik Morales fights Marcos Maidana, promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, the best promotional company in boxing!
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Big time boxing fan. Grew up in East Los, and been an avid follower of the sport and the legends like Julio Cesar Chavez, Vicente Saldivar, Salvador Sanchez, Carlos Zarate, Erik Morales, Ricardo Lopez and Juan Manuel Marquez just to name a few.
Current favorite boxers: Canelo Alvarez, Mikey Garcia.