By Scott Heritage
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Manny Pacquiao and Yuri Foreman will no doubt be called a mismatch by certain sections of the fans and media. Part of this will merely be remorse over the fact that the biggest fight of the decade was scrapped and now might not ever happen.
The numbers one and two on most pound for pound lists facing off against each other understandably doesn’t happen all that often and would no doubt have been a great fight.
But despite that, Pacquiao taking on Yuri Foreman is still an interesting idea. Manny has had no trouble so far in climbing the weight divisions and taking on the best and brightest in each division. In Foreman though he is thought to be taking on one of the lesser of the junior middleweight champions.
The reason being that as he climbs higher and higher in the weight divisions, there is a disparity in size and eventually weight that will get bigger as he climbs higher. Bigger fighters can obviously cut more weight, and at the same time take bigger punches and have more range and power. Sooner or later, Manny wont be able to take the punches as easily, and his punches won’t be as effective. Also to make higher weights Manny needs to put on extra muscle, but there is a limit for every fighter as to what they can put on before they become too bulky and slow.
Manny will still be the big favorite with the bookmakers, but it might not be as easy as it might look on paper. On Manny’s side he has a big punch, which was effective at welterweight and will probably still do the job at junior middleweight. He also has a big speed advantage, which is why he can get so much leverage with his punches and hit so hard. Also Foreman isn’t a big puncher himself, having only 8 knockouts from his 29 fights.
Foreman will have an even bigger size and weight advantage over Manny than it would first appear though. When Manny fought Miguel Cotto for example, he effectively had 6 months to gain the extra size again after beating Ricky Hatton at 140lbs. Although the fight wasn’t made right away, the chances are that Manny and his team knew he would be moving up whatever opponent he took.
Against Foreman he has a little over 3 months, and gaining mass while training for a fight is difficult enough when you have a long time to prepare for it. Not to mention Manny is probably reaching the limits of what he can put on in muscle without sacrificing his speed and stamina. Foreman also has a bigger reach and size advantage than Manny has faced so far, which will make pinning the more technical Foreman down so Manny can land his bombs even more difficult.
Will Manny get his 8th title? Yes, but it won’t be a complete walkover.
http://www.examiner.com/x-20066-Pittsburgh-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2010m1d1-Manny-Pacquiao-set-to-climb-the-weight-divisions-once-more
Scott Heritage covers both MMA and Boxing make sure to visit his Website to read his other articles:http://www.examiner.com/x-20066-Pittsburgh-Fight-Sports-Examiner
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Scott Heritage covers both MMA and Boxing read his other articles at Pittsburgh-Fight-Sports-Examiner