Pacquiao vs. Mosley: Forget the Hands, Watch the Feet Instead

Much has been made of the hand speed comparisons between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley during the build-up to their May 7th match.

Does Mosley still have the reflexes and hand speed to deal with the lightning-quick Pacquiao? How will Pacquiao respond if he no longer enjoys a significant advantage with his fast fists?

While speedy punches are flashy to look at and can be devastating in a fight, the real difference maker between Mosley and Pacquiao may end up being their feet.

Mosley has looked less like his old self and more like an older version of himself during his past two fights; a relatively one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and a dubious draw against Sergio Mora.

Both Mayweather and Mora have quick fans (Mayweather more so), but it was their foot speed and balance that caused Mosley to look ordinary. Mayweather and Mora used their feet differently, but both forced Mosley to work harder than normal just to keep up.

Mayweather punches as fast or faster than any other fighter in the world, but for the early portions of the fight, this seemed to have little effect on Mosley.

Mosley was able to easily duck under many of Mayweather’s signature leaping hooks, and nearly shocked the world when his own hand speed allowed him to stumble Mayweather in the second round. Mosley could time Mayweather and match his speed enough that in a toe to toe exchange Mosley was not at a disadvantage.

During the second quarter of the fight, Mayweather began to move around the ring; not by running but by controlling position. Mayweather would walk backward at an angle that faced his chest towards the ropes. Facing one another, Mosley was left with either walking directly in, or taking numerous fast steps to try and get around to Mayweather’s side and bully him against the ropes.

As soon as Mosley picked a direction, Mayweather would step away and hold his position to start the process over again.

The end result was that Mosley was not fleet-footed enough to corner his foe. After several rounds of expending too much energy trying to keep up, Mosley grew tired and had eaten numerous counter punches, which allowed Mayweather to begin stalking Mosley.

The foot-speed issues were even more pronounced against Mora. Mora spent the first three-quarters of the fight constantly back-peddling. Mosley earnestly gave chase as he repeatedly tried to force Mora into exchanges and trap him against the ropes. While he occasionally succeeded, it because apparent from his mouth breathing that the movement was taking more out of Mosley.

Mosley’s trainer, Nazim Richardson, routinely asked what was the matter, and reminded Mosley of his cardio training. While many people disputed the draw and felt Mosley earned a victory, few believed that he looked anything but exhausted at the end of the night.

On May 7th, this growing deficiency in Mosley’s abilities will be even more pronounced. Pacquiao is a living perpetual motion machine. He bounds around the ring at much the same rate as Mora, but combines it with the ring generalship of Mayweather.

He embodies the nursery rhyme "Pop Goes the Weasel" as he walks backward, enticing his prey only to spring sideways and in with unorthodox hooks and uppercuts. Erik Morales, Miguel Cotto and Oscar de la Hoya were each caught with sudden, violent outbursts as they tried following Pacquiao. In fact, both Morales and Cotto found themselves on the canvas trying to follow Pacquiao.

Mosley has shown that he is still supremely adept at fighting men who stand directly in front of him, as happened with Antonio Margarito and in the first round against Mayweather.

Unfortunately, Pacquiao will rarely offer Mosley such opportunities. If Mosley is to have a chance at victory, he will need to use a stiff jab and slow down the fight with controlled pacing. The problem is that, for the vast majority of his career, Mosley has only used his jab to set up the right and has built his career on being willing to chase down any opponent.

Too many years of fighting in the same style make it unlikely that Mosley can make the necessary changes to accommodate his age. On Sunday, May 7th, Mosley will still have his hand speed, but he will have no way of using it as his old legs fail him.