Spence needs to address Pacquiao’s speed to stay unbeaten
By Leo Reyes
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 14 Jun 2021
Unified IBF and WBC welterweight champ Errol Spence needs to address Manny Pacquiao’s hand and foot speed to preserve his unbeaten record. Pacquiao (71-7-2) and Spence (27-0-0) are set to face each other in the ring on Aug. 21, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Pacquiao, who just got back his WBA welterweight belt following his long period of inactivity due to the Covid 19 pandemic, has started his training camp and it shows that his hand and foot speed are still there.
Pacquiao’s camp led by his longtime trainer Buboy Fernandez, has obviously studied Spence’s strong and weak points based on the unbeaten champ’s previous fights.
While Spence has the advantage in size to include his height and reach, he lacks speed to neutralize Pacquiao’s footwork and hand speed.
Using his advantage in reach, Spence, who is known for his accurate jabs, is expected to use it and keep Pacquiao off his range. Spence’s jabs are strong and could be damaging if not correctly addressed.
Pacquiao’s longtime coach Freddie Roach, who is expected to join the camp later, would probably devise a plan to prevent Spence’s jabs from getting in the way of of Pacquiao’s effort to get inside his range. Roach also needs to find ways to address Spence’s dominant height and reach advantages.
While Pacquiao has fought physically-superior foes in his pro career, he needs to exercise caution with Spence because of his accurate power jabs that capitalizes on his reach advantage.
In the Margarito fight back in 2010, Pacquiao was able to penetrate Margarito’s range freely because of lack of defense and jabs on the part of the Mexican challenger. Only about an inch separates Spence and Margarito’s height and reach.
Margarito stands 5’11 with a reach of 73” while Spence has a 72” reach and stands 5’10.” Pacquiao stands 5’6” with a reach of 67 inches.
Spence is a huge favorite to win over the eight-division world champ owing to his size advantage particularly with his height and reach. But Pacquiao’s ring exposure dwarfs Spence fight record by miles apart. The 31-year-old puncher from Long Island, New York fought 27 times since turning pro in 2012 against Pacquiao’s own record of 71 professional fights in a span of over 20 years.
Clearly, Spence will bank on his size advantage and endurance. But his knockout power seems to have diminished a bit which could be attributed to a major car accident that happened in 2019 while driving his Ferrari in Dallas. He was badly injured and hospitalized in the ICU.
In his comeback fight following the car accident, Spence failed to score KO over Danny Garcia and he seems to have slowed down a bit.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Leo Reyes.
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