Pacquiao's final fight shows evolution of a legendary fighter

by: JM SIASAT

Photo by: Askmen.com

Manny Pacquiao once again dazzled the boxing world in his farewell performance against former two-division world champion Timothy Bradley, Saturday night (Sunday morning PHL time) at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pacquiao, 37, proved that he's still capable of beating young elite fighters despite his age. The fight did not end with a knockout, but the Filipino ring icon managed to showcase in this fight how he evolved as a fighter throughout the years.

The Pacquiao that fans came to love was the young, fast and strong pugilist who spit fire and shot from all cylinders right from the opening round. After 66 fights in the professional boxing arena, it would it be horribly unfair to ask and expect the same from Pacquiao, who is now in his late 30s.

Pacquiao is past his prime, and after suffering a knockout loss against his Mexican archrival Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012, he knew that he had to retool and use a more calculated approach moving forward. While his trademark speed seemed to have diminished throughout the years — an observation shared by his trainer Freddie Roach — Pacquiao still managed to mix and utilize his speed, unorthodox combination punching and lateral movements when inside the ring.

Pacquiao was patient in his third fight with Bradley. He could've gone ahead and attacked without remorse from the opening round given that Bradley isn't much of a power puncher, but Pacquiao instead took his time, set up his punches, and waited for the right opening before unleashing his combinations.

Throughout his career, Pacquiao always had trouble dealing against a right-straight on top.

Opponents who land a big punch against the younger Pacquiao would usually have to brace for an all-out attack from the Filipino — which wasn't always a good thing for Manny.

In his three fights against Bradley, however, Pacquiao refused to be taken over by his emotions when he got hit. He stuck to the game plan even after taking a few hard ones from his opponent.

He did not waste energy, and knowing that he's ahead on the scorecards, Pacquiao seemingly took some minutes off to preserve his stamina.

It's rare for an offensive boxer to figure out other ways to fight toward the end of his career, but Pacquiao managed to do just that before calling it a day. After spending yet another twelve rounds inside the ring against Bradley, Pacquiao rightfully emerged victorious winning by a unanimous decisions with all three judges scoring it 116-110.

Pacquiao's legacy was set in stone even before this fight. With or without a third bout with Bradley, the Filipino boxing icon is a surefire future entrant to the boxing Hall of Fame. The first fighter in history to win titles in eight different divisions, Pacquiao would also join the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Muhammad Ali, Willie Pep, Sam Langford and many more in boxing's immortal all-time greats list.

Boxing history has always been kinds to its fighters; it doesn't penalize Roberto Duran's career for quitting in his second fight against Sugar Ray Leonard, nor does it penalize Leonard's career for getting stopped by Hector Camacho in his last bout.

At the end of the day, history highlights a fighter's in-ring exploits instead of their business outside the ring. Pacquiao has had his fair share of controversies outside the boxing arena, but suffice to say, history books would be more than kind to him when his full story is finally written.