I got this comment from one of Pacland's posters. I thought I should share it here coz it's very interesting.

Its been customary in this site to ridicule or belittle Juan Manuel Marquez. I think I own a good portion of those posts that ignores his technical prowess. But that is not to say that I'm totally ignorant of what he's capable of . I have been watching him for some time now, and he's actually quite good LOL. I love this sport and its just me, I am like that ... its about "knowing the enemy" thingy. I hope I'm making sense to you, fellow Paclanders.

Here are my humble observations (which you would have probably noticed too). I feel that it must be acknowledged as we must acknowledge the weapons of the other guy. These are things that JMM did in that fight that started the shifting of the momentum to his favor.


OBSERVATION NUMBER 1: JMM's PARRYING

I hoped Manny have found a way get around this. This is what JMM did to neutralize Manny's powerful Straight Left. Its just a simple slapping of the oncoming punch. He also backed up a little to make it fall short.

Maybe Manny must mix his attack with hooks with the intention to hit the side of his face. This will open up his tight defense of putting his arms in front of his face. When JMM is on this defensive stance, its harder to connect with that Straight Left especially when your leading your combo with that punch. Majority of those Straight Left was parryed. When is a good time to launch the Straight Left? ... that question brings me to my next observation.


OBSERVATION NUMBER 2: JMM's WIDE HOOKS




Have you guys notice this attack of his? ... Does this look like a good time to throw that Straight Left? I say this is the "Best Time" to launch a blitzing Straight Left. These Wide Hooks have scored so many points in JMM's favor in the first fight because most of the time Manny is caught guessing which of his hands is going to land, forgetting to move out of the way. I hope to see Manny staying in front of him and when JMM starts spreading his arms like that, instead of guessing, why not keep a light and alert foot to propel the poweful Left ... or Right (since its closer and within striking distance to JMM's face). JMM is a tad slower than before that's why its doable ... just one time Manny Plant a Left on his jaw and bring him down.


OBSERVATION NUMBER 3: JMM IS PRONE TO GET HIT BY A LEFT AFTER BREAKOFF





I don't know if this is some technical flaw in Nacho's training because his brother is also the same (watch the first two fights of Vazquez-Marquez). When fighting JMM in the inside, Barrera connects well with a Left. JMM seems to rise from close exchanges with his guard down (see video). So why not hit him with a Left and lookie here ... our boy has a strong Left


That's all about his style.

Now I also have a couple of things that I wanted Manny (our boy this time) to employ Its about delivering that Straight Left. As we all know, that is our boy's moneymaker. It must be delivered right (which I know he will). I don't want a repeat of the first fight where he became too predictable with it. He was using the old one-two (right jab, straight left) and JMM was able to read it well. Manny must mix it up to avoid being one-dimensional (unless he was able to hurt him, then unleash the Left).

I'm bringing up this clip because I like what he did on his 3rd fight with Morales. He was attacking and moving from one place to another. This gave Manny angles that Morales is not ready to defend yet. He was blasting down (hitting his breadbasket) and up his body. The result - the Straight Left was so elusive Morales gets caught with it so many times. It will work with JMM as well.







In avoiding JMM's punches, he must do what Jaca did - leaning back. Jaca did a good job evading JMM's punches by leaning. That is why he lasted the way he did. But he just didn't have the firepower to hurt JMM.