A week before the May 7th showdown between Welterweights Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38KO) and ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39KO), we take a look at the key points for each fighter and examine scenarios in which a victory is possible. Today we have a comparison based on the power they possess in each hand.
In his hayday, Shane Mosley was a feared puncher who had speed and velocity on his punches aside from devastating knockout power. The last time we saw it however was over two years ago when he physically dismantled disgraced boxer Antonio Margarito. Still, Mosley packs a whallop in his shots and is easily the strongest puncher Pacquiao will have faced so far. Perhaps the most glaring question would be is if he can sustain that type of speed and power throughout the entire 12 rounds as Pacquiao may look to drag Shane into deep waters. Shane’s recent contests against Floyd Mayweather and Sergio Mora suggest that he may just fade in the later rounds for this one. Mosley’s best punch is the overhand right and if it’s fast enough to catch Floyd Mayweather, who has the best defense in the game, it’s fast enough to catch Pacquiao.
On the other hand, Pacquiao doesn’t have that ‘one-punch’ knockout power that he possessed in the lower weight classes. Contrary to popular belief, his power hasn’t carried on well in the higher weight class. It’s not his fault however, it’s that these fighters in the Welterweight division have better punch resistance. I’m not saying Pacquiao is a weak puncher by any means. The man has bad intentions with each shot and he throws nearly a thousand of them every fight – most of which do land. Pacquiao’s best weight however is still 140 lbs despite making easy work of Dela Hoya, Cotto, Clottey and Margarito. What Pacquiao does have however, is volume punching and with just the right amount of power he overwhelms and suffocates his opponents producing the TKO’s and KO’s we’ve seen him collect over the past few years. This is also due largely in part to his vastly improved right hand.
Therein lies the difference between the two fighters, Mosley can end the fight in a single punch and Pacquiao will force you to quit on your stool with the endless pressure – accurate pressure at that. At this point, I don’t think Shane will be able to carry his power into the later rounds, as we saw in the Mayweather fight. And Pacquiao may as well wait for him to tire out before picking him apart. Pacquiao has made a career showcasing fight ending flurries and he gets more accurate every time out. Both fighters have awesome power in their own right. The question here isn’t who packs more of it, it’s who will be most effective with it.
Because of Mosley’s big overhand right, he has that mystique surrounding him that he can turn the fight around at any moment, and thus this gives him the proverbial ‘puncher’s chance’. But at 39 years of age, he’s been in the sport a long time and his decline has reared its ugly face in his last few fights. The chance is slim and father time is definitely not on his side. Stamina will be a huge factor and once Mosley runs out of it, it’s cue for Pacquiao to put the pedal to the metal and get him out of there.
On the flipside, physically, Pacquiao has also shown some slight decline but this is due to his climb in weight and not necessarily to time’s inevitable effect on a fighter. Yes, he is a step slower but that’s not saying much as he is still faster by a mile than any fighter he is pitted against, both in hand speed and on his feet. What Pacquiao has done well is that he’s balanced his declining physical gifts with better technique and ring intelligence making his combinations more accurate and thus increasing the effectiveness of his power.
Expect Mosley to look for a big shot to end the fight, he may have trouble finding it though. Pacquiao’s in and out style will make it difficult for him. He has to time Pacquiao on his way in and launch a counter punch.
Pacquiao just needs to keep doing what he’s been doing and that’s launch intelligent and accurate combinations at different angles. It’s when he does this that he produces knockouts. They say the punches you can’t see are the ones that do the most damage. You can bet your house that he’ll catch Mosley with more than one of these when they finally throw down.
Advantage: Manny Pacquiao
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