I thought against Mosley it was a case of a bad match-up, leg cramps and a bit being too nice.
Against Marquez, he can't definitely be nice. It was a case of Marquez being brilliant and the 'kryptonite' thing between them.
But last night, Pacquiao really showed he is slowing down. He seems to be holding out, conserving his energy and aware that his stamina has diminished. Could be deterioration due to age or just to many wars under his sleeve.
But to me it can be also a case of complacency. The fact that he came in at the heaviest weight of his career and carried more fat than he used to reflects on his training. He could be more focused now but this time, it all went down to conditioning. I have mentioned on another thread that Bradley's chin is above class A. He ate one clean shot that has either put a Pacquiao opponent down or made him ran away like a bitch with tail between the legs the whole fight. I thought only Marquez can handle a berserkerous attack from Pacquiao as he always make him cautious of a counter and seemed like he had planted on Pacquiao's mind that he gets more dangerous when he's hurt.
I believed the Margarito fight made Pacquiao complacent. That camp ran out of time to be in fight form and wide range for weight made made him lose his tenacity. Think of it this way, when a fighter did not try starve himself or atleast get into a strict diet before a fight, fighters seem to be smiling too much during weigh-ins, does not have the 'killer eye', or the staredown antics, and the desire to finish an opponent. I mean it's all good with Pacquiao because he was never the furious type but somehow that restraint from food before kind of made him a nastier beast. That diet and waiting to get the training over and fight started would increase your drive to end an opponent and make him suffer to get that equivalent satisfaction from an agonizing camp.
Manny Pacquiao has had none of these since he fought Hatton (against Ricky he has to lose some water weight 2 days before the fight). Against Cotto they were aiming a weight of less than 145. Clottey is a forgettable fight. Against Margarito, we started to see a different fighter, less savage, pleading to the ref to stop a fight against a man who has been proven to cheat bigtime and openly insulted his trainer's disease. Maybe it's the weight. Too much food, less threat and the wide betting odds. When a fighter losses the fire inside, it's a much apparent decline than athletic ability.
