Saturday, February 23, 2008 Espejo: How to beat Manny By Edwin G. Espejo Pacquiao Watch
I HAVE always said that the only way to beat Manny Pacquiao is to crowd him from the inside and deny him the leverage to unload his powerful left bombs.
You have to bully the Filipino bomber and make him fight defensively if you want to have the chance of getting his scalp.
Juan Manuel Marquez almost did that during their first encounter. His controversial draw with the Filipino southpaw became the recipe for Erik Morales to emerge victorious in his first fight with Manny.
Only, Morales committed a big mistake in the late rounds when he stood in the middle of the ring trading haymakers with Pacquiao. Another 30 seconds more, Pacquiao trainer and coach Freddie Roach said, and Morales could have been a goner. It was a mistake he paid dearly as it left fear in the heart and mind of Morales in their next two bouts, which he lost by knockouts.
That was then. When Manny was fast and strong, albeit predictable.
Manny, at 29, is now a notch stronger and his speed has not wane a bit.
So what is the best strategy to beat Manny?
Unfortunately, the strategy is not how you fight Manny inside the ring because there is no antidote to his lighting speed and newfound awesome power.
I am sorry, JMM. The guy who you thought is beatable and honestly believed you beat four years ago is no longer the same boxer who relied on his vaunted left straights.
Pacquiao has metamorphosed into a fighter with a full arsenal of powerful punches on both hands that even the venerable Marco Antonio Barrera could not solve. That is why he opted to backpedal the whole fight during their rematch last year.
For you to beat Manny, you will have to enlist guys from Brooklyn, Chicago or Sicily in Italy and have Freddie Roach kidnapped a week before your March 15 rematch and send the Filipino ring idol a dead fish wrapped in old newspaper.
You will also have to wine and dine Buboy Fernandez in the Playboy mansion and make sure the latter would feed Manny pasta, pork and kegs of his favorite San Miguel Pilsen days before the bout. Better still, call on Efren 'Bata' Reyes to give Manny a very good handicap for a 48 hour non-stop pool marathon two days prior to your fight. If you can't have these guys fix the job for you, give Manny a guitar from Eric Clapton and let him jam 72 hours prior to March 15.
You have trouble with that? Organize a marathon 10-cock derby in the heart of Las Vegas, if the state of Nevada will allow, and have Manny sponsor it on the night of your rematch.
If everything else fails, dare Manny to have your fight decided on a pierde gana and give him a wink.
Oh, why should I explain to you what is pierde gana? I already gave you a ton of tips how to beat Manny!
