Pacquiao Watch: Accuracy is key

As the big fight inches its way to D-day, a lot of angles will be covered by boxing analysts and gurus.

Many will border on predicting the outcome. Many will have their own subjective opinions. 

This column has been looking at numbers and fight stats of both fighters starting with the number of punches – jabs, power punch and totals – of Manny Pacquiao and noticed a substantial decline in the volume of his deliveries. 

But Floyd Mayweather also has seen a dip in his productivity. 

It is in the accuracy department where Mayweather has kept the edge over Pacquiao. 

Pacquiao has thrown an average of 67 punches per round since moving up into the welterweight class. That is a shade over the average of 60 for the weight limit. 

But he has since slowed down after outpointing Shane Mosley in 2011, throwing only an average of 54 against the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez (Part 3), Timothy Bradley (2), Brandon Rios and Chris Algieri. 

The Filipino spitfire however has been consistent with his accuracy at 34 percent. 

Mayweather on the other hand throws an average of 42 punches per round while connecting at an average of 18 dishes for a superb accuracy level of 45 percent.

Unlike Pacquiao, Mayweather has stepped up punching precision in his last four fights by almost 50 percent while throwing a lot less (36 punches round).

What Mayweather gave up in terms of volume, he compensated by being able to pick his spots and land more accurately. 

A lot of those punches were also jabs.  

Against slower fighters, Mayweather’s jabs are unsettling for orthodox punchers.  

No wonder Mayweather throws a lot of jabs – almost 50 percent of the time as against Pacquiao’s 35-40 percent but.   And the latter only lands an average of 5 jabs per round.

Against Pacquiao, Mayweather will have to step up with his jabs although he already lands an average of almost 10 per round. 

It remains to be seen if Mayweather could throw and land those jabs with the same accuracy against Pacquiao who can dart in and out and move side to side from a pair of legs and feet that even the flamboyant American will have tough time to handle. 

Mayweather can win the fight with jabs alone, too, if Pacquiao cannot find his rhythm.

And it will be a boring fight. 

If both can dish and land according to the punch lines of their fight statistic, Pacquiao will win a close decision but boxing judges do not have the luxury of waiting for Compubox results before penciling their scores. – Rappler.com