Pacquiao's domination of Algieri wasn't surprising. What made headlines, though, was Pac-Man's six knockdowns.
It's rare for a fighter to drop an opponent so many times in one bout because the floored fighter has usually been stopped before tasting the canvas more than three times.
The Pac-Man faithful will point to that fight to defend their claim that Manny's punching power is still very much intact.
However, was it really an awesome display of pure punching power or an excellent showcase of Manny's timing and accuracy?
Chris Algieri, although stunned, never appeared to be on the verge of getting knocked out. Unlike Jean Pascal against Sergey Kovalev last weekend, we didn't see Algieri mightily struggle to stay on his feet, stagger and wobble from pillar to post.
In fact, we saw a lucid Algieri rise each time, jolted by relatively composed.
Perhaps Manny scored a few flash knockdowns?
A flash knockdown is a "surprise" knockdown. A fighter is usually floored because he/she was punched while off-balance or in an awkward position. And sometimes, a fighter can be floored by a light punch or glancing blow simply because he/she was caught off guard.
From a visual standpoint, flash knockdowns sometimes look far more devastating than they are as the floored fighter is not hurt or even dazed. However, in boxing, flash knockdowns are awarded the same as authoritative knockdowns.
The esteemed boxing website, ThaBoxingVoice, recently caught up with Floyd Mayweather Sr who was not impressed with Pacquiao's multiple-knockdown effort over Algieri.
“He ain’t knocked nobody out in five years," Floyd Sr told Fernando Pimentel of ThaBoxingVoice.
"That’s tells you somethin’, that tell’s you a lot…"
"He dropped Shane [Mosley], he beat Cotto up bad, stopped De La Hoya, now you mean tell me he can’t beat this last guy he fought [Chris Algieri]?
"That guy was a sub-novice fighter fighting Pacquiao, he supposed to be a top pro in boxing and he talkin’ about whoopin’ the cream of the top!? Man, come on… Pac-Man better sit down.”
To Manny's credit, Algieri is a slick, former world champion who is defensive-minded and apparently boasts a pretty sturdy chin. After all, Ruslan Provodnikov had him down twice in the opening stanza but failed to close the deal, or even win for that matter.
But, perhaps Floyd Sr has a point? Algieri never appeared compromised.
Maybe Manny's power at welterweight has been a bit overrated since his explosive dismissal of Ricky Hatton in 2009. However, one could argue that punching power takes a backseat to speed, timing and reflexes.
Manny doesn't possess the power of fellas like Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Robinson or, perhaps, even a welterweight version of Miguel Cotto but, as Shane Mosely will attest, he is still supremely skilled and quick enough to stun and floor opponents at a moment's notice.
Source: Fightsaga.com
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