MORE AGGRESSIVENESS AND FOCUS FOR PACQUIAO TO KO MARQUEZ
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 02 Nov 2012
Fighter of the Decade Manny Pacquiao hopes to show the world he?s not skidding as a dominant fighter as what many fans were thinking. There is a blatant anxiety over his ability to win convincingly especially against the foe who knows well how to handle him, Juan Manuel Marquez. He is considered by many as a different fighter who ferociously stopped Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto and David Diaz.
Pacquiao is ranked number two pound-for-pound boxer by The Ring in a tie with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., sliding from number one. Boxing Scene rated him at number two behind Andre Ward while Yahoo! Sports placed him at number three behind Mayweather and Ward.
Clearly, the experts considered his last few victories unimpressive since they were devoid of a knockout. Every Pacquiao bout after the Cotto conquest was considered a picnic in the park. But his wins came only by decisions, against Joshua Clottey, Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito. He lost a controversial verdict to Timothy Bradley, but it could not have happened if he was able to knockout the undefeated American.
"What I'm trying to do in this fight is end any doubts," Pacquiao was quoted by Yahoo! Sports? Kevin Iole. "I worked on the conditioning so hard so I could do whatever I need to do in my fight. My opponent is claiming he won the fight the last time, so I want to give a knockout so the people know for sure who won this one."
Stricter measures were implemented to shun away too many distractions like too many media reporters, scores of pastors, unnecessary visitors and needless calls. He has five more weeks to train for his December 8 schedule with Marquez and coach Freddie Roach sees to it that his favorite fighter gets the focus and enthusiasm called for to ensure a KO win.
"I need to be more aggressive," Pacquiao said. "That's what I'm focusing on now, more motivation to get a knockout and more aggressiveness. That's the most important thing I had before, when I was 25 or 26 years old. I went after my opponents very aggressively and I'm trying to get that back now."
The latest Pacquiao opponents preferred to box and run to evade from his stinging punches. The strategy for the fourth Marquez fight is to lure him into slugging it out. Pacquiao wants to be aggressive right at the opening bell.
"I flat-out 100 percent told him, 'Look Manny, you're not going to win a decision,' " Roach said. "He told me he knows he needs a knockout to win, and I told him I agreed.?
Pacquiao reportedly skipped annual Halloween party in Los Angeles to stay focused on his training. And three days of camp at the Wild Card Gym showed he has vastly improved. They were expecting to get 100% preparation earlier.
?Manny has to become the Manny of old, the fighter who threw a lot of punches and who didn?t give his opponents the chance to rest and strategize,? said Pacquiao?s buddy Gerry Pe?alosa as quoted by Nick Giongco of Manila Bulletin. No mercy, only ferocity on top of the ring. Like the Manny of yesteryears.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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