Wayne McCullough on Morales and Prince Naseem

[oldgringo]

How did some of you score the 5th round of Morales/Barrera I. Just for kicks...

[Easy-E]

do you think it safe to say that Erik hits as hard as MAB and vice versa ...

morales hits harder than barrera

[grayfist]

I don't know man see I remember Barrera saying he knew he had a tough opponent in front of him. Also I wasnt surprised at the outcome because i had seen Manny pacquiao before and knew he was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Wouldnt a fighter like Barrera know that his opponent is very good because of the tapes he must watch in preparation for a fight?

Actually, ol' fella, as was obvious, I was just making a guess based on those details I cited.

I was thinking, MAB, inspite of what he said (and boxers often lift the reps of their adversaries in part to show some respect and also to help along ticket sales), didn't think much of Pacquiao. Manny was a replacement in the Ledwaba fight; not much was known of him in the US. Moreover, at the time, Manny was far from the fighter he has evolved into being. He had power, he's a lefty (and lefties are odd to face in the ring), he has guts...but other than those, he didn't have too much.

The tapes available of Manny's fights previous to Ledwaba are few. Most of his fights were in the Philippines and Philippine TV archives are not really well kept, except for a couple of networks--the two leading ones. Most-- I guess, all-- of Manny's fights on TV were on such networks as IBC and RPN, not really famed for having good morgues. I am making the guess because I am sure that the two leading networks GMA and ABS-CBN do not air boxing matches (the only one ABS aired was Manny's last one--Erik-Pac II) as part of their programming menu.

I am in the Philippines and the several documentaries aired on TV about Manny lends some credence to the above observation re tapes. The documentaries I saw over the past several days had only a handful of clips of Pac's early fights. They didn't even have that KO clip that I saw here on Boxing Scene posted by a member, though it was mentioned and the fighter who inflected that loss on Manny, Rustico Torrecampo, was interviewed. So, I'm thinking, the tapes available to Barrera's camp may have been pretty few, probably fights such as Ledwaba (which was too short to give anyone a really good take of what Pac was capable of), the loss in Thailand (likewise too short-- Pac was KDd in the third) and a handful of others.

I am aware that the handspeed was pretty obvious in those few tapes available but it was likewise clear that at that stage of his career Manny didn't have side-to-side body/foot movement, his head movement left much to be desired, had the tendency to avoid punches by backing straight up-- a mortal defensive sin in boxing-- and had only one combination as bread and butter-- the jab-straight. Great as he is, MAB, may have thought, that with his vast experience, he would be able to handle all that. No problemo.

MAB may have also thought that the kid (Manny was then, what, 23? 24? to MAB's, 30?), notwithstanding all those fights in Pac's resume', hadn't faced anyone. MAB was out to school the impertinent new-kid-on-the-block.

You were one of the very few I know, pal, who was not surprised of the outcome. I must confess that having followed both Barrera and Pac's earlier career as much as I was able to, left me some doubt about Manny's chances then. It was a doubt that, if a Filipino friend of mine is to be believed, was shared by quite a number of Filipinos at the time. My friend told me that betting was brisk in the Philippines, indicating that there were Filipinos who thought Manny won't be able to handle Barrera and put their money where their thoughts were.

I timorously picked Manny but didn't make a bet. In the Philippines or anywhere else. I now obviously regret that.

[grayfist]

EXACTLY!!! RIGHT ON THE BUCKET.

And Boy! DId Barrera get a prime taste of real greatness. It's only fitting he bowed to his superior. And PAC taught him a leasson that he's way, way above ***** Barrera's league.

Now that ***** knows he can't handle the speed, he can't handle the powe, and come to think of it, PAC has become a very finesse fighter as of late, MAB pisses on his pants thinking PAC will KO him again.

Thanks! T'was just my "educated guess"-- I hope educated but surely a guess.

Thanks again for sharing the same view

[rsl]

Pac Fans are demanding a rematch to prove a point and to erase any doubts ... we also want to see a rematch with JMM to settle the score ... its the road to greatness PAC has to take ...

one question its hard to tell who is better than EM or MAB, maybe this easier to answer, who hits HARDER EM or MAB?

Pac after the first fight commented that EM hits as Hard as MAB but I see PAC backing up more against EM...

I don't think a rematch w/ JMM is gonna happen, I mean there's no choice but to take chump change if Marquez wants to prove himself to the world. He had his chance at the big bucks and blew it. He has to have some type of impressive victory over MAB, Rocky Juarez, or Zahir Raheem to get another crack at PAC! What they need to do is give these Mexicu*ts another chance to have a round robin type competition and whoever comes out on top gets to fight the king!

[JaNnO]

you know what I think is funny? Pacquaio fans are calling Barrera a ***** when he's moving up a division and taking on a very tough guy, and a champ at that(who just killed a guy in the ring).

Man oh man he's a *****!

has it ever occcured to you that what the pacquiao fans probably meant by their claim is that mab is *****ing out only with the pacman and not with any other fighter or fighters he wants to face?

if you've been into ****fighting for a long time, you've probably noticed that a fighter **** that ran away from its opponent in a fight directly goes to the pot. that is because every good ****fighter knows that the same **** will always run at the sight of his conqueror. pac fans think this is the case for mab.

[Dirt E Gomez]

Any post involving ****fighting as an analogy or the main substance must be disregarded.

[JaNnO]

Any post involving ****fighting as an analogy or the main substance must be disregarded.

said who?