By Dante Fernando
[Editor’s note: Sometimes the mailbox contains some very interesting essays, including this fine work by Dante Fernando…]
Floyd’s need for defense is where his fatal flaw will come in, and I’m sure of this 100 percent. When the Pacman comes in with his two-fisted attacks, the instinctive reaction of Floyd will always be to shell-defend and pop-punch — this is the so-called Mayweather-family style. THIS ALWAYS LEAD TO PRECIOUS MICROSECONDS LOST TO OFFENSE-DEFENSE, EBB-AND-FLOW ADJUSTMENTS. This style is excellent against boxers with ordinary work rates. THE PACMAN NEVER REALLY BOTHERS WITH DEFENSE AND HAS NO SUCH TIMING LOSSES. THERE’S NOTHING BUT WHAM-BAM, WHAM-BAM IN THE PACMAN’S BRAIN WHEN HE FIGHTS — as would be very obvious from his fighting style. Pacquiao will very likely resort to B52-style carpet bombing in the first six rounds. At 32, Floyd will be too old to really adjust to a saturation punching style he has never seen in action against himself. Floyd is no warrior like Hagler. His brain will always cry out to him to defend, defend and defend even more.
Pacquiao needs only a fourth or a fifth of his power punches to get through and register on Mayweather’s mind. Once Pacquiao’s punches are felt, the mental defense of a hurt-man leads to even more punch-timing losses. This was what happened to the last five previous opponents of the Pacman. ALL OF THEM SLOWED DOWN WHEN THEY GOT SERIOUSLY HURT — THEIR MIND IS TELLING THEM TO AVOID FURTHER HARM. FLOYD — WHO IS EVEN MORE of A DEFENSIVE NUT THAN PACMAN’S PREVIOUS OPPONENTS — WOULD BE IN DIRER STRAITS.
Let’s not try to be cute: we all know that, despite the massive gains in boxing finesse of the Pacman, the BEST AND MOST RELIABLE course of action for him would always be to massively pound Floyd every second in the ring, until Floyd tastes the blood spurting from his face. With the kind of inferior opponents he had been feasting on, Floyd is in no physical nor mental condition to go up against a genuine, fierce warrior. THE PACMAN WENT THROUGH THE LATINO WARRIORS GAUNTLET, AND SENT BACK TO SENDERS ALL THEIR SAVAGE PUNCHES, WITH USURIOUS INTEREST TO BOOT — he has little to fear from Floyd.
Further, the problem with Floyd’s cultivation of his “Pretty Boy” and “Money” personas is that these reflect the fact that he has never worked seriously (training seriously is not the same as working seriously) for his easy-money in the ring, and has zero knowledge and experience in what to do next when his face is being blasted apart by a foe whom his family has insulted for too long, and has nothing but vengeance on his mind.
IS THERE STILL A SANE MAYWEATHER FAN OUT THERE WHO BELIEVES THAT A RETRIBUTION-SEEKING PACMAN WOULD ALLOW FLOYD TO PREDICTABLY ELUDE AND POP-PUNCH HIM TO SUBMISSION OVER 12 ROUNDS? OR FEELS THAT A VICTORY OVER THE URINE-BRAINED-AND-BLOATED MARQUEZ IS A FINE INDICATOR OF THE PACMAN’S PERFORMANCE IN MARCH???? Surely, those fans have very little understanding of what makes the Pacman tick. I am thrilled when these fans and Mayweather’s family like Floyd’s chances; nothing can blindside Floyd more than that. You have all seen what kind of devastation is alloted by fate to slick pr*cks who can’t outrun punches anymore — as in a Whitaker who was destroyed by Trinidad.
