“The Fight of the Century” | Long Island MMA

     “The Fight of the Century”, or so it was labeled as the combat sports world crept closer and closer to the long awaited bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. A fight that took an approximate five to seven years to come to fruition; and it did not seem to be quite what most fans were expecting to see. But one must ask, what exactly did fans expect? Did they expect a slug fest, or a story book comeback, perhaps a flash knockout? Realistically the fight went the way that it probably should have gone according to the fighters styles.

     Floyd Mayweather is an expert defensive/counter striker while Manny Pacquiao is an extremely aggressive fighter that throws a massive volume of strikes. When the two were put together, Pacquiao attempted to fight his fight by initiating several exchanges using combinations however most of those exchanges were stifled by a well thought out game plan. If Pacquiao was to initiate the exchange all Floyd had to do was simply maintain his stance and clinch with him stifling his offense. There were certain instances in which Manny was able to unleash large combinations on Mayweather as he had his back to the ropes but they were few and not damaging enough to turn the tide of the battle.

     The fight was a strategic victory for Mayweather by his use of the clinch as well as cutting angles and countering with single accurate strikes on the aggressive Pacquiao. Now there have been certain extenuating circumstances that have surfaced since their fight has taken place involving a shoulder injury that Manny entered the fight with that may be a possible explanation for his lack of volume in his offense. . Due to the length of time it took to make the fight a reality it is possible fans had built up an unrealistic set of expectations for the bout. Had he been healthy the fight may have been different; perhaps he would have been able to maintain significant offensive volume and avoid the clinch but unless we are blessed with a rematch and a healthy Manny Pacquiao the result we received should have come as no surprise. Expert strategy wins fights and Floyd Mayweather seemed to have absolutely implemented an expert strategy.