Would you consider Pacquiao a "freak" athlete?

[zuffa zack**]

Originally Posted by JayElectra

His mixture of power, speed and stamina is freakish for the sport.

He certainly doesn't have bad stamina but I wouldn't call it great either. He has slowed down late in fights but since hes so good he can get away with it. Doesn't gas but noticeable drop in pace, understandably, tho.

Overall an outstanding athlete.

[mozfonky]

absolutely, he's a freak, I've said it a billion times, and now that he got kayoed people naturally play him down a bit but I've said all along that I've never seen anyone like him. Roy Jones, tell the truth, really wasn't any faster than many fighters, he certainly doesn't have manny's speed. but the thing which makes manny mind boggling at his best was the pace he could keep, he is gifted, but I always thought he had to be on an epo like drug to be that ferocious, his performance against delahoya was inhuman, imagine roy jones going up to heavyweight and consistently beating the best fighters (not John Ruiz) then we have an equivalent comparison in terms of the sheer physical feat manny pulled off. As for his intelligence, he's not to bright at all, he's got a good, reliable chin, he's proved that but he doesn't have a great chin. He isn't the kind of fighter who can try different things and adapt like Sugar Ray Leonard could, or any of the other greats but physically, I don't see how anyone can deny it, he's a superman.

[RNCommando]

Yes in terms of very fast feet and very fast hands amazing for boxing but i think his technique is just ok he beats people because of his speed his technique and skill are not bad but there not amazing.

[mozfonky]

Originally Posted by zuffa zack

He certainly doesn't have bad stamina but I wouldn't call it great either. He has slowed down late in fights but since hes so good he can get away with it. Doesn't gas but noticeable drop in pace, understandably, tho.

Overall an outstanding athlete.

he hasn't been showing the same form he did for the delahoya fight and the couple after that, he can't be as hungry as he was.

[JayElectra]

Originally Posted by zuffa zack

He certainly doesn't have bad stamina but I wouldn't call it great either. He has slowed down late in fights but since hes so good he can get away with it. Doesn't gas but noticeable drop in pace, understandably, tho.

Overall an outstanding athlete.

His stamina has slowed a bit but so did Hagler's by the time he fought Sugar Ray. In his prime, his gas tank was incredible.

[JayElectra]

Originally Posted by mozfonky

absolutely, he's a freak, I've said it a billion times, and now that he got kayoed people naturally play him down a bit but I've said all along that I've never seen anyone like him. Roy Jones, tell the truth, really wasn't any faster than many fighters, he certainly doesn't have manny's speed. but the thing which makes manny mind boggling at his best was the pace he could keep, he is gifted, but I always thought he had to be on an epo like drug to be that ferocious, his performance against delahoya was inhuman, imagine roy jones going up to heavyweight and consistently beating the best fighters (not John Ruiz) then we have an equivalent comparison in terms of the sheer physical feat manny pulled off. As for his intelligence, he's not to bright at all, he's got a good, reliable chin, he's proved that but he doesn't have a great chin. He isn't the kind of fighter who can try different things and adapt like Sugar Ray Leonard could, or any of the other greats but physically, I don't see how anyone can deny it, he's a superman.

He had some great performances north of 130 like Hatton and especially Cotto (maybe his greatest performance outside of Barrera 1) but I don't see what he did against De la Hoya as being incredibly impressive simply because Oscar seemed to be a corpse in the fight.

[Pugilistic]

To me all the top guys are pretty amazing but I think Pacquiao is above a lot of the other top fighters in terms of athleticism. He seems like the type of dude who can do pretty good at most sports. On the other hand, RJJ in his prime seems like the type of guy who excel at all sports.

[mozfonky]

Originally Posted by JayElectra

He had some great performances north of 130 like Hatton and especially Cotto (maybe his greatest performance outside of Barrera 1) but I don't see what he did against De la Hoya as being incredibly impressive simply because Oscar seemed to be a corpse in the fight.

I thought the combos he strung together combined with the weight differential were phenomenal, and he looked like he could have done that for 12 full rounds, good thing DLH quit. I picked him to win but not to dominate like that, and yes, oscar either was shot or had a very bad night, the oscar from 1996 probably would have kayoed Manny with a left hook somewhere along the line, Oscar had a history of decimating smaller men. Not only the fights themselves, watching him spar and train I've been just astonished, a fast fighter can throw lightning for a few moments but not as long and as hard as manny would do it, no one trained like he did, that's why I was and am convinced that he a. was a freak b. also used something. Fighters never fight at 100 percent like he did, even if they throw a few fast punches or throw a huge amount of punches. Aaron Pryor, Henry Armstrong could match punch output with anyone but they didn't put so much into every shot. It's like sprinting for the duration of three minute rounds, no one can do that but Manny did, he's just gifted. I didn't see him lasting long, but I don't think he's quite done yet, he looked sensational outside of the knockdowns in the last fight, he'll be back at least one more time. I do not think a Duran like career was ever in the cards for him though, he's not smart enough, not technical enough to do it.

[aldeniro78]

Anyone who can win that many titles in that many weight classes against the opposition he faced is undoubtedly special.

[Sunfish]

Originally Posted by Chuck Bass

but not his chin

'Splain?