I'm not trying to take credit away from Freddie, but when I watched Pac fight earlier in his career, there was not a lot of difference than what he does now! His fight against a cheating ass Agapito Sanchez may be a bad example because of the little cheating ass Sanchez, but before it had gotten flagrant, Manny fought virtually the same way he fights now. What has Freddie added? Pac was still fast, he was still strong. If I could point out one thing, I think Freddie might have taught him to throw more sustained combinations. The angles and all of that other stuff were still the same as in the past! Any thoughts?
The only time Freddie will need to change Manny is when......... <iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bR8XH3R95xE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Whether it can be attributed to Roach or to Pacquiao's own assessment, he's surely moved on from being the one-handed fighter he was in the first JMM fight. His right-hand is now an integral part of his offense. Not only does he use his jab to better effect, but more importantly his right-hook has steadily gotten better and better - you can tell he's more comfortable than ever throwing it. What's also very different about his game is that he doesn't fight on a line anymore. He uses much more lateral movement, and as a result, backing him up is no longer a simple answer to the question of how to neutralize him. Back in the day, if you could back him up, you could control the pace of the fight. That's not the case anymore. And that's a profound improvement on his part that makes him far more formidable than he was previously. This improved facet of his game was exposed accutely when against Mosley he reverted to fighting in a line to a large extent, probably deliberately, because it was important for him to keep Mosley backing up. Now, whether or not that can be attributed directly to Roach or not is debatable. It's not as if he doesn't have a mind of his own, or the inclination to improve on his past liabilities. So the bottom line is, Pacquiao has infact improved significantly as a fighter since training under Freddie Roach. But that's not to say that Roach can be credited directly with these improvements - it's entirely possible that Pacquiao, a guy who knows a thing or two about boxing, was the one who conceived of and implemented the improvements we see.
agREED... Pacquiao was Basically a Southpaw 1-2 Guy, when Roach 1st Got him...Now he Gets ALOT out of his Right Hand, as U've Pointed Out, & he Also Goes to the Body More than he Did Previously... REED
