Welcome back fight fans to another video here
on The Fight Game.
Manny Pacquiao is a boxer who fights for the
people, and is therefor loved by the people.
He's respectful, but in the ring he's an absolute
monster.
A long career over which took place in four
different decades has seen Manny Pacquiao
compete in some absolutely exhilarating fights.
With great
power and speed, along with extraordinary
accomplishments, Pacquiao lays his claim to
being called one of the greatest boxers of
all time.
He started in the Philippines, with not a
cent to his name, he fought to feed his family
and rose through the ranks in the hardest
way possible.
To get to where he is now, from where he once
was, would more often than not be referred
to as folk tale.
But there is much truth to how Manny Pacquiao
defied all odds in his life to become one
of the worlds most popular sporting icons.
However It's been an all too common occurrence
where we praise a boxer based
on nothing but hype and emotion, but Pacquiao
does not fall into that spectrum, because
Manny Pacquiao, perhaps more than anyone else
in recent boxing memory,
has surpassed the thoughts and opinions of
the masses.
What once before seemed impossible, Pacquiao
manifested.
He is several orders of magnitude greater
than
any current fighter in the sport right now,
and in ultimate essence he has practically
defied the most daunting of challenges, those
challenges of course coming
in the form of boxing opponents.
Welcome to this video here on The Fight Game,
where we take a look at some historic moments
of Manny Pacquiao's legendary career,
where he defied his opponents, and shocked
the Boxing world.
I want to first start with his American debut.
The reigning super-bantamweight champion Lehlo
Ledwaba was due to defend his world title,
but his opponent
pulled out and was in need for a replacement.
More often than not, replacements are ultimate
underdogs.
They're not expected to win, they're simply
used
as placeholders so the show goes ahead.
Pacquiao had never fought in the states he
was rather unrecognized, no one really expected
Pacquiao to put up much of a fight.
Ledwaba was 29 and in his prime, while also
on a 23-fight win streak.
Pacquiao was 24, with no experience on such
a large television show such as HBO.
The fight started
with Pacquiao in the black trunks and Ledwaba
in the white, the first round saw Pacquiao
gauge the distance with his jab, and we saw
Pacquiao stutter step to dictate the
pace right from the get-go.
After a minute Pacquiao set up a hard left
with two jabs, also take notice of the position
in which Pacquiao unleashes this left from,
his lead foot is
outside his opponents, putting himself in
an advantageous position to throw from.
Pacquiao scored a lot of his shots when Ledwaba
ducked his head down.
It's a dangerous move against one of opposite
stance, because a
low-aiming shot often lands clean, as the
opponent quite literally ducks into the punch.
With 30 seconds left Pacquiao noticed blood
drip from Ledwaba's nose,
his killer instinct kicked into gear and he
upped the pace, building on his momentum.
Pacquiao was faster, but not just with his
hands, but with his feet too.
As round 1 came to a close Pacquiao went back
to the corner.
I'm going to stop talking for a small bit
to let you guys hear what advice Freddie Roach
tells Pacquiao.
Throw jab, hook, uppercut.
Okay?
Jab, hook, up the middle.
When you throw the hook, he trying to go under
the hook, lift him up with the uppercut, yeah
okay son?
As you just heard, Roach advised Pacquiao
to set up a big left uppercut with a jab and
a hook.
Now watch this.
*Commentating*
That's brilliant coaching by Roach, and brilliant
execution by Pacquiao.
Shortly after Pacquiao would nail Ledwaba
with a straight left to drop him for the first
time.
Pacquiao was now looking absolutely relentless
with his combinations, but soon Ledwaba would
momentarily have his break when he landed
3 snapping jabs.
But if you know Pacquiao you know he loves
a good fight.
In just 2 rounds Pacquiao had won the love
of the fans in the crowd.
Round 3 saw Pacquiao dominate.
Jabbing at times, but then exploding with
lightning combinations.
Roach noticed Ledwaba flinching in response
to Pacquiao's feints, so he instructed to
feint before unleashing those big combinations.
Your feints and your headmovement, alright?
- Just like in the locker room.
Here Pacquiao feints a lead hook, then lets
go of a straight 1-2, then feinted again before
throwing a 5-punch combination.
As time went by, it was pretty clear that
the fans were witnessing something special.
In round 5, Pacquiao floored Ledwaba again
with a straight hard left.
This was pretty much the end, and Pacquiao
knew it.
Ledwaba was defied, The fans were surprised,
and the world couldn't wait to see him again.
I imagine Ledwaba to be very angry with his
managers who picked Pacquiao
as a replacement.
Next up we've got Pacquiao versus Erik Morales
2, the rematch.
But first, let's take a brief look back at
their first fight.
Pacquiao fought for the first time at
130 pounds, after beating Barrera at 126.
The passionate support from the fans of Erik
Morales and Manny Pacquiao was very much clear
and commentator Jim Lampley
couldn't have put it better.
The scene here in the arena as raucous, as
wild, as loud, as festive, as we've ever seen
anywhere before a big fight.
The first round saw Pacquiao land a fast and
clean flurry of punches, only to be returned
with an even more sinister attack from Morales.
Pacquiao and Morales are both alike in the
sense of having that pure killer instinct
in the ring.
The rest of the first round saw them exchange
punches in see-saw action.
However as the fight went on, Morales found
the formula for success, with disciplined
boxing.
Waiting for Pacquiao to attack recklessly,
then to capitalize on mistakes made
in doing so.
But at times Pacquiao's relentlessness is
just too much and Morales gets overwhelmed.
Pacquiao was the aggressor, but Morales decided
that the way to beat
Pacquiao was by counter-punching and controlling
with the jab.
As the first few rounds went by, Morales's
disciplined boxing paid off as it broke Pacquiao
down.
He had his
pockets of fast combinations when Pacquiao
got tired, and shortly after Pacquiao had
a very bad cut over his eye.
Round 5 saw Morales up the pace, imposing
his will on
a very wounded Pacquiao.
This was a real tough fight, if you're a fan
of Manny Pacquiao it's likely a hard fight
to watch.
Pacquiao, like the true fighting warrior that
he is,
didn't fold, through faituge he fought back
valiantly, in round 12 we saw both fighters
fight real hard, giving everything they had.
What an incredible fight that was.
Unfortunately, although both fighters had
their spots and the fight was close, Pacquiao
lost in a decision victory for Erik Morales.
So now
let's fast forward to the rematch.
The second fight was as much as a spectacle
as the first.
Roach however had a different gameplan for
Pacquiao this time around.
Pacquiao, this time around, decided to move
his head, instead of being stationary in the
upper-body like he was in the first fight,
and opted for a more traditional style while
also still retaining that effective relentlessness
during combinations.
Because of his constant head movement, Morales
found it difficult to time Pacquiao's attack,
and Pacquiao
timed a straight left in the midst of his
head movement to land clean.
Knowing that it was effective, Pacquiao did
it again moments later, landing clean again.
Morales then let go
of a fast combination, with both fighters
now returning back to how they fought the
first fight, with recklessness exchanges.
Morales got Pacquiao to the ropes with much
similarity
to the first round of their first fight.
Pacquiao, realizing his mistake, went back
to boxing clean.
Pacquiao landed another great left after a
slip, as Morales had became accustomed to
Pacquiao's
side-to-side slipping he wasn't expecting
the straight left that took the place of a
right slip.
Pacquiao saw Morales back up and unleashed
a combination, then both traded back and forth.
A massive left hand which blew Morales back
saw both of them go toe-to-toe again much
like their first meeting.
The course of the fight saw both of them fight
closely, but Pacquiao with
a little more of an edge than the first fight,
and then in round 10 Pacquiao landed a massive
right hook, then followed that up with another
left hook to drop Morales, then
spectacularly Pacquiao finished off the fight
with Morales incapable of continuing.
Pacquiao had done it, he defied Erik Morales
and avenged his loss, collecting a brilliant
victory
for himself and his people.
Next up we've got the fight billed as the
dream match, the fight for the ages, Manny
Pacquiao versus Oscar De La Hoya.
Larry Merchant, a HBO analyst, had a bizarre
idea for
De La Hoya, who at the time fought at 154
pounds, and Pacquiao, who fought at 135 pounds,
to meet in the middle for a megafight.
For modern comparison, that would be the same
as Gervonta Davis fighting Jermell Charlo.
The fantasy became a reality when the fight
was announced for both of them to face one
another, where Pacquiao would be moving up
two weight
divisions, and De La Hoya would be moving
down 1 weight division, to meet at the welterweight
limit of 147 pounds.
This was a significant jump for Pacquiao,
who was much smaller than
the bigger De La Hoya.
You could almost say it was David versus Goliath.
At the weigh in, Pacquiao weighed in at 142
pounds, showing that he didn't even have to
make weight for the fight.
Instead of gaining lots of mass, Pacquiao
and his team felt that speed would be the
route to victory against the bigger man.
When both fighters came to the centre of the
ring the size
advantage for De La Hoya was quite apparent.
The fight started with Pacquiao circling around
his opponent, looking for openings.
This is how he would have to box a much larger
and stronger opponent, by utilizing his movement
and speed advantage.
Pacquiao quickly found an opening for a straight
left, then a right hook.
Pacquiao's superior fast footwork was key
to winning this fight.
Pacquiao would land,
and then quickly evade De La Hoya's responding
counter attack.
Here Pacquiao lands a hard left hand, evades
the punches and swaps the positions, then
comes back in to land another
hard left hand.
As the first round went by, De La Hoya was
already frustrated with the quickness of Pacquiao.
As rounds went by, Pacquiao landed and De
La Hoya did not, which can be
very humiliating.
The straight left hand while slipping the
head on the outside was the key move here
for Pacquiao in this fight, it worked like
a charm.
Manny Pacquiao defied Oscar
De La Hoya and his size advantage with a good
game plan and disciplined determination.
Pacquiao was in and out, scoring his shots
then getting out of the way.
It got worse for De
La Hoya as the fight continued, it became
a pure destructive performance from Manny
Pac-Man Pacquiao.
Towards the end Pacquiao had broken De La
Hoya's soul.
For Oscar, the will to
fight had now become the will to survive.
Battered and bruised, De La Hoya still came
out, showing such great heart.
Pacquiao won when De La Hoya's corner stopped
the fight before the
9th round started.
The decision was the right decision, as the
fight had become a one-sided beatdown.
Pacquiao sent De La Hoya into retirement,
he would not fight again.
This loss took
quite some time for De La Hoya to recover
from.
De La Hoya: It actually took a very tough
beating to get me out of the sport.
I mean he beat the hell out of me.
I would actually have steaks ready, frozen
steaks ready in my room, to press them
against my face and against my body.
When Pacquiao defeated Ricky Hatton by knockout
and Miguel Cotto by decision he became a 7-weight
world champion.
Surely many thought that he had finally reached
his limit, but Team
Pacquiao went far and beyond to extend that
already-incredible record to 8-weight divisions
when he took on Antonio Margarito at 154 pounds.
Margarito was even bigger than De La Hoya,
and many critics said that Pacquiao had now
bitten off more than he could chew.
That was of course until fight night.
Pacquiao started the fight much like the De
La Hoya fight, circling
his opponent.
Watch this sequence in round 1, Pacquiao invited
Margarito to jab with his own jab, Pacquiao
leans back just slightly to dodge the punch,
making Margarito over-extend, and
then capitalizes on the opening with a hard
lead hook.
One of the keys to victory in this fight for
Pacquiao was to bait Margarito into throwing,
and then to throw over Margarito's lazy
punches with fast snappy counters.
Pacquiao needed a good high-guard defense
in this fight, and he did quite well in taking
Margarito's much stronger punches.
Speed was also key in this
fight, once again Pacquiao's lightning fast
speed came to rescue in many exchanges, throwing
2 to 3 punches in the same time that Margarito
throws 1.
As the fight went on we saw the
greatness of Manny Pacquiao unfold by teeing
off with sharp fast combinations then jumping
out of danger much like the De La Hoya fight.
In the 4th round Pacquiao hurt Margarito badly
with a body shot, then followed up with a
barrage of punches.
As the rounds went by Margarito's eye got
worse, many asked for the fight to be stopped
but Margarito continued.
We would
later find out after the fight that Manny
Pacquiao had actually fractured Margarito's
eye.
Towards the end of the fight the swelling
worsened around the eye, making Margarito
practically
blind in his right side.
With such limited vision, Pacquiao continued
to beat down Margarito relentlessly, which
brought him to a unanimous decision victory
to become the only 8-division
world champion in boxing history.
That record still stands to this day.
Pacquiao had defied Margarito's gargantuan
size.
Pacquiao showed that he had the heart and
skill of a strong
champion.
He also showed that he's not only a good boxer,
but a great boxer.
At last but not least, We've got Pacquiao
versus Thurman.
At 40 years old Manny Pacquiao took on one
of the sports strongest and most powerful
welterweight champions by facing Keith
Thurman.
The fight which was broadcasted by Fox Sports
pay-per-view saw Pacquiao take on a young
gun of the sport.
A lot of people thought Pacquiao was done,
that he was too old,
and that it was dangerous for his health to
be taking on such a high-level opponent like
Keith Thurman.
This was one of my favourite Manny Pacquiao
fights, considering the trash talk
from Thurman in the lead up to the fight.
Thurman: It will be great to defeat him, July
20th.
I'm truly looking forward to it.
Pacquiao of course had little to say, he likes
to leave his fists do the talking.
Pacquiao: Nobody will intimidate me.
Pacquiao in round 1 dropped Thurman, which
was a stunning surprise wake-up call for the
trash-talker.
The left hand to the body dropped Thurman's
hands and directed all of Thurman's focus
down below,
then Pacquiao came back up with a straight
right to drop Thurman.
Pacquiao, energized by the knockdown, continued
the fight in true Manny Pacquiao fashion,
with devastating speed.
It's incredible that at 40 years old Pacquiao
was able to fight with such intensity and
ferocity as he had done in his younger days.
However Thurman hits very hard, and the fight
was generally close, with Pacquiao winning
most
of the first half and Thurman winning most
of the second half.
Pacquiao after the fight had compared Thurman's
power to Margarito's, saying it was thudding
and hard to take.
But
the 40-year-old legend endured, he outfought
and outboxed the younger man.
In his prime, Manny Pacquiao was beating legends.
Now he's a legend, he's beating people in
their prime.
The man is truly something else.
Pacquiao landed a very hard left hook to the
body in round 10 which saw Thurman run and
even take out his gumshields to breathe.
Pacquiao won by decision
in a close fight.
He defied the youth and strength of Keith
Thurman by breaking another record, by becoming
the oldest welterweight champion in the history
of boxing.
That brings a close to this video, we hope
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Thanks for watching.
We'll see you in the next video
here on the Fight Game.
