Pacquiao vs. Hatton: Solving the Pacquiao Puzzle
Published April 20, 2009 by Martin Bean
By Erik Sarmiento Dela Cruz (email).
The key was the right hand.
Back then, it was as simple as stick the left jab, throw the right hand and watch out for the left straight. Erik Morales (48-6, 34 KOs) and Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) has showed to the boxing world how seemingly easy it was to give the current pound for pound king an "L" in his record, or at least a tough night in the ring.
But that was then. Now is an entirely different story as Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) has proven to be more than just a mere left-swinging speedster. He has vastly improved since his first (and only) credible defeat at the hands of Morales. Seeing how he performed against Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs), David Diaz (34-2-1, 17 KOs) and on his rematch against Marquez, his next opponent has more than just incredible hand speed and lethal power to deal with. Pacquiao has now a right hand to complement his deadly left, an amazing footwork that allows him to dart in and out in the twinkling of an eye, and a patience and ring intelligence marked by a discriminating decision in when and where to swing. Moreover, it would do well to remind his future opponent that the Pac-Man remains to be the mean wrecking machine we all fell in love with.
So, how to solve the Pac puzzle? If very few could handle the then very left-oriented Pacquiao, how many of today's fighter could handle the now well-rounded Pacquiao? Obviously, the number could never be huge. Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs), who is set to meet the Filipino superstar on May 2, is in for a very good fight. It is interesting to see how a chin-down, forward fighter like Hatton would perform against a guy whose tough nights in the ring were only dealt by exceptional counter-punchers who throw a very cautious right hand in perfect timing.
The quick left jab and powerful right hand is there for Hatton. But he is by no means a counter puncher. And solving the now-Pacquiao puzzle obviously entails more than just a right hand. It may not be as particularly perplexing, as others might suggest, but solving Pacquiao does involve being able to handle his speed and power, which very few could do.
Taking a look at Pacquiao's first and only credible defeat (his first two losses were flukes as he reported on both fights dead on the weight), Morales plausible performance in March 2005 could be best attributed to his right hand, either delivered as a lead or as a counter, which he threw with surgical precision and perfect timing.
The game plan he displayed on that fight was basic and simple: jab, jab, straight right and left hook. The simple game plan, which he brilliantly adapted on the whirlwind approach of the his pressure forward fighting opponent, has firmly established the pattern of the whole fight: Pacquiao would try to overwhelm Morales with his sharp and fast punches, and Morales, after withering the assault with his great defensive capability and remarkable durability, would storm back with lead rights and left hooks that would effectively drive the Filipino into brief tactical defensive posture, forcibly backpedaling him at sometimes.
Of course, there was that nasty cut above his right eye suffered by Pacquiao at the fifth stanza of the fight which saw him fighting half-blind for more than half of the game. Taking nothing away from the iron-willed Mexican, Morales was a defensive genius as he was an offensive monster. He kept his left guard up and elbow in, which effectively blocked Pacquiao's left leads and permitted him to time his opponent with stinging counter right hooks. Such game plan we would see again working for Morales at their first rematch, until he ultimately gave in under blizzards of hard shots at round 10.
Morales' remarkable capacity to absorb tremendous blows has placed him in a better position to carry out such simple yet very effective game plan with a great degree of success relative to what has offered by his compatriots who also fought Pacquiao. That ability has allowed him to negate not only Pacquiao's phenomenal power but his extraordinary speed as well. It is interesting to note that Roach and Pacquiao was not able to solve (or did they opted not to?) the counter-punching game plan of Morales—which says a lot about Pacquiao's questionable ability to shift game plans and adapt to his opponents' style. To cap it further, Morales slick right hand has been very elemental in putting Pacquiao at a defensive stance, albeit briefly, for key moments of the fight, a territory that is very unfamiliar to the Filipino who has learned only to be the aggressor in his entire career.
The right hand was also very elemental to the impressive performances displayed by Marquez in his two controversial bouts against the Filipino superstar. The right hand, which he delivered either as a counter or as a lead, has punished Pacquiao for the whole 24 rounds that they fought. It has allowed him to rebound from the crashing knockdowns he suffered on both meetings, especially on the first fight where Pacquiao has decked him three times in the opener, to eventually put up very-very close fights which could have gone either way. It is very interesting to note that Marquez has actually outlanded Pacquiao on that dramatic opening round of their first meeting where he was able to connect 42% of all his power punches compared to 35% of Pacquiao.
There is no question as to who was the clinical fighter between the two. Marquez, like Morales, knew there's no way he could beat Pacquiao by just standing at the middle and go crazy mixing it up. He's a kind of fighter that thrives in a very controlled environment. The key to win is to gain strategic control on the fight and he could only do that by making Pacquiao think twice before unloading his flurries. The right hand and his remarkable counter-punching skills shall play a tactical and very vital role in getting the strategy works for him.
Like in the first Morales fight, Pacquiao ate a steady diet of rights hands against Marquez. There were certain points in his two fights against Marquez where the Mexican was connecting his right hand almost at will. Although Pacquiao has kept his guard high while bobbing and weaving when he tried to close in, something that made him an effective aggressor, Marquez side to side movement has made it difficult for him to deliver his bombs. This complexion of the fight has allowed Marques for his left jab and right hand to find its home on Pacquiao's face.
Perhaps Marquez' greatest achievement on his two desperately close bouts with the pound for pound king was he was able to impose his control upon the Filipino Idol at a certain level. Pacquaio, who ate lots of Marquez right hand, couldn't just open fire because of the exceptional counter-punching skill of the Mexican. The beautifully coordinated tactical fighter in Marquez connects with his right hand every time Pacquiao lunges in for his power punches. Like what Morales did to Pacquiao in their first meeting, Marquez would storm back with his own hard hooks after successfully withering a Pac storm. This simply made Pacquiao think twice before unloading his flurries.
Such "control" we could see on full display on the fourth round of their rematch. It was very telling. Marquez, who was still visibly shaking after suffering a cracking knockdown on the previous round, has backpedaled for the whole round with Pacquiao following him around the ring trying to hurt him further with his one-two punches. The legs weren't there yet for Marquez and by the looks of it, Pacquiao needs just little time to finish him off. It was surprising however that Pacquiao never let out his kamikaze attack on Marquez during the whole round, which tells something about Pacquiao's highest respect for the counter-punching skill of his opponent who was countering him bravely on a back foot. The aggression was there, but it was not the typical relentless aggression Pacquiao was known for. He basically allowed Marquez to come back. This leads to conclusion that the Pacquiao that hammered Marco Antonio Barrera (65-7, 43 KOs) into complete submission in 2003 would beat the Pacquiao that narrowly won against Marquez.
The solution by Morales and Marquez on the Pac riddle could be summed up in two points: one, time him with the right hand; and two, make him think twice before storming in. Both points are a task made for a counter-puncher. The last one is very elemental in nullifying Pacquiao's speed and relentless aggression as he's a kind of fighter who exerts domination by bringing chaos and confusion in the ring. Pacquiao's aggression, as revealed in his two fights against Marquez, has remarkably lessened precisely because he was thinking twice on his attacks. Everybody should learn from Barrera's experience in dealing with Pacquiao's relentless aggression at featherweight.
After Morales and Marquez, Pacquiao has not met anybody who could give him another nightmare in style match-ups. He went through Barrera for the second time, Jorge Solis (37-1-2, 27 KOs), Diaz and De La Hoya, and all fights have been a show case of his speed and relentless aggression at varying level. None of these fighters has able to solve Pacquiao, not even De La Hoya with his towering height, longer reach and bigger size. In these fights was a fighter who is constantly improving. Pacquiao is no longer the very tentative and very left-hand oriented fighter that Morales and Marquez met the first time around.
He's now a more complete boxer-puncher. He is an evolving tactician who is now more judicial in his punches and he is still that same old kamikaze fighter. Those added dimensions in his game have made Pacquiao a more difficult puzzle to solve.
But knowing his propensity to open up when going all out in assault, as in the De La Hoya fight, the right hand must still be the key in beating him. Hatton has a very difficult task ahead.
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