MANNY Pacquiao once again showed why he is one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Last Sunday, he certainly didn’t look 40 years of age, as he knocked down Keith Thurman in the first round and proceeded to engage him in a brutal donnybrook which lasted all of 12 rounds.
In the end, he was declared the winner and there should have been no doubt as to the clear victor, but one judge turned in a dubious 114-113 card in favor of Thurman which made the decision split and once again mired the sport in some sort of minor controversy.
STYLE. Allow me to elucidate why I was so confident of his victory.
There is an adage in boxing that goes “Styles makes fights.” Simply put, it preaches that the style of each particular boxer will determine how the fight goes.
Thurman is an in-your-face brawler. He can’t fight backwards as there is only one gear in his box. He’s a one-dimensional fighter.
These are the types of opponents that Pacquiao excels in fighting. A fighter who stands in front of him is his preferred adversary because he is right there to be hit.
Even at an advanced fighting age, Pacquiao still has excellent hand and foot speed. He can easily dart in and out and flummox his flat-footed opponent with combinations.
Ergo, Thurman’s style was tailor-made for Pacquiao.
Were Pacquiao a younger version of himself, I don’t think Thurman would have survived long after that first round knockdown.
AGE. It’s just a number they say, but in truth, Father Time is undefeated.
As effective as Pacquiao was last Sunday, you could tell he was just a tad slower, and noticeably gone was the spring in his footwork, particularly in the second half of the fight.
The power was not all there, but you have to give credit to Thurman’s durability and chin. After all, this is a guy who went to war with the likes of Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia and emerged victorious.
Bottom line is that Pacquiao at 70 percent strength is still good enough to beat a Top 5 fighter in the welterweight division.
That’s simply incredible considering that Pacquaio has been an active fighter for 24 years in a career dating back to 1995 when he first debuted as a flyweight.
LAST ROUND. It’s on a dear friend, Liezel Gedorio, who celebrates her birthday this week. Cheers!