Pacquiao and Mosley improved Defense at the expense of Offense

[Fix]

Pacquiao's upper body and head movement was pretty amazing and he kept it consistent for most of the 12 rounds. Like Pacquiao, Mosley found it difficult to find the target and only caught Pacquiao when he decided to stop that movement and allow Mosley to tag him.

That movement is a defensive skill that Pacquiao has mastered and the fact that he can do it while at the same time throwing power shots makes him better than ever before in my opinion.

Mosley's movement also made it difficult for Pacquiao to land clean consistently but the reality is that Mosley was concentrating on defense so much that his offense nearly went out the window. The difference is that Pacquiao was able to balance out defense and offense a little more effectively. Mosley's main punch in the fight was an unimpressive shooting jab but that feared right hand hardly showed up at all apart from pretty early on in the fight.

Not an exciting fight but I found it interesting that both Pacquiao and Mosley demonstrated quite a significant improvement in their defensive skills but sadly this was at the expense of effective offense.

[sevenone]

I'm trying to figure out what Mosley was trying to do. Was it simply survive? Was it land a big counter when Pac was coming in? Was Pac carrying Shane? When Mosley would retreat he took himself out of position to punch time and time again, which leads me to believe he was simply trying to survive. Pac did open up a bit, but, Shane didn't or couldn't pull the trigger. Now is this because of the headmovement of Manny? I doubt it, yes he moved his head well but I think it's the foot speed that really threw Shane for a loop. Thoughts?

[tibbar]

prolly somehow the repeated statement of freddie to reporters that theyre going for a knockout got into the mind of mosley, psycologically he was affected by it that he became wary of pacquiao especially when manny connected in the early rounds more on the third when he was knocked down by a punch he did not saw.

[dvb]

i did think pac would be cautious and respectful and set up his work more/be more defensive and smart.

shane i did think would move and try negate pac but i thought he would try counter/or actually give up his gameplan once it failed and go to pac.

wasnt a classic,but i enjoyed watching pacs boxing on display,he could have gone at a better pace,but considering left leg cramp,still did good.

be glad this fight wasnt too good,and that pac will do same to marquez,thus making floyd feel more confident in taking the pac fight.

[Fix]

I'm trying to figure out what Mosley was trying to do. Was it simply survive? Was it land a big counter when Pac was coming in? Was Pac carrying Shane? When Mosley would retreat he took himself out of position to punch time and time again, which leads me to believe he was simply trying to survive. Pac did open up a bit, but, Shane didn't or couldn't pull the trigger. Now is this because of the headmovement of Manny? I doubt it, yes he moved his head well but I think it's the foot speed that really threw Shane for a loop. Thoughts?

I think the foot speed was definitely a key factor too. To me the explanation for Shane's behavior is that he was trying to time Pacquiao with counter shots but because of Pacquiao's movement and foot speed, he couldn't see hardly any openings to counter him. I think he was trying to follow the Marquez formula, counter-punching Pacquiao at key points, that was the gameplan, but because Pacquiao's head and body movement was much improved compared to his Marquez fights, Shane just couldn't see the openings to throw many meaningful shots.

Coupled with his own reduced speed and uncharacteristically concentrating largely on defense it looked like he couldn't pull the trigger for most of the fight but I think it was Pacquiao's own improved defensive skills that played a big part in that too, as well as the fact that his punching power made Mosley extra-cautious. It was mainly when Pacquiao slowed down and stopped that movement that Mosley felt confident enough to throw any power shots.

[ALG United]

I think the foot speed was definitely a key factor too. To me the explanation for Shane's behavior is that he was trying to time Pacquiao with counter shots but because of Pacquiao's movement and foot speed, he couldn't see hardly any openings to counter him. I think he was trying to follow the Marquez formula, counter-punching Pacquiao at key points, that was the gameplan, but because Pacquiao's head and body movement was much improved compared to his Marquez fights, Shane just couldn't see the openings to throw many meaningful shots.

Coupled with his own reduced speed and uncharacteristically concentrating largely on defense it looked like he couldn't pull the trigger for most of the fight but I think it was Pacquiao's own improved defensive skills that played a big part in that too, as well as the fact that his punching power made Mosley extra-cautious. It was mainly when Pacquiao slowed down and stopped that movement that Mosley felt confident enough to throw any power shots.

I can agree to this, Nasim and Mosley where relying big time on the Marquez fight as their blueprint that they totally missed on one thing very important, 'Manny has improved a lot since then'. Mosley was able to time Floyd in the first few rounds when they fought, but with Manny he was not able to do that...

[Fix]

prolly somehow the repeated statement of freddie to reporters that theyre going for a knockout got into the mind of mosley, psycologically he was affected by it that he became wary of pacquiao especially when manny connected in the early rounds more on the third when he was knocked down by a punch he did not saw.

That knockdown effected Mosley pretty bad, his expression looked kind of shell-shocked when he was on the canvas, not like he was really hurt but more like "how the hell did he do that." It looked like he finally realized the reality of what he was up against.

[Fix]

i did think pac would be cautious and respectful and set up his work more/be more defensive and smart.

shane i did think would move and try negate pac but i thought he would try counter/or actually give up his gameplan once it failed and go to pac.

wasnt a classic,but i enjoyed watching pacs boxing on display,he could have gone at a better pace,but considering left leg cramp,still did good.

be glad this fight wasnt too good,and that pac will do same to marquez,thus making floyd feel more confident in taking the pac fight.

I was also hoping he might revert back to his usual boxer/puncher style, but I think Pacquiao's evasive movement was just too good and the knockdown fazed Mosley to the point that he became reluctant to even try and engage. It seemed he just couldn't find the openings to mount any sort of sustained assault.

[Fix]

I can agree to this, Nasim and Mosley where relying big time on the Marquez fight as their blueprint that they totally missed on one thing very important, 'Manny has improved a lot since then'. Mosley was able to time Floyd in the first few rounds when they fought, but with Manny he was not able to do that...

It was apparent from the first round that Mosley was trying to become the same sort of counter-puncher that Marquez was at the lower weights but it's true that Manny has improved considerably since then and his defense is levels above what it used to be. The one good thing to come out of this Mosley fight for Pacquiao is that he showed he can incorporate defensive movement for nearly the whole fight if he feels it's necessary to do so.