Can Larios sack the Michael Vick of boxing?
 By Dan Horgan (July 1, 2006)
This Saturday, former 122-pound champ Oscar Larios has an extremely heavy task at hand. Having to travel all the way to the Philippines, the tough Mexican will be in against pound-for-pound megastar, Manny Pacquiao, in what is easily his toughest bout.
Coming into this fight, Pacquiao has nearly every advantage: He’s younger, faster, stronger, and will be in a packed arena with native fans all screaming his name. In addition, he has been fighting at 130 pounds for a year and a half now, and Larios has yet to tip the scales at anything more than 122 in a competitive fight.
So, in all seriousness, how can a man who is coming into a fight with so much less ammunition than his opponent possibly pull off an upset? The answer, my friends, is a complete blitzkrieg.
Manny Pacquiao is the Michael Vick of boxing. He comes forward with so much offensive speed that it is sometimes
hard for him to harness all of his ability. He can show flashes of brilliance one moment, and the next he’ll be aimlessly throwing his left hand like an amateur. So in order to bring out Pacquiao’s best for his version of the playoffs (a rubber match with Erik Morales), his handlers will be looking to try some new plays in a regular season game against Larios.
For Larios to win, he will have to look at it with a linebacker mentality. Despite his height advantage, it is highly unlikely he will keep the relentless Filipino star at bay with his jab. So if he wants any chance of winning, he will have to blitz the quarterback and stop his plays before they even happen. Pacquiao will not be able to try anything new if he can’t keep Larios off of him. Larios will need to throw bombs for as long as he can and try to get the Pac Man out of there early, because as long as the hometown hero is in any kind of shape, it will be difficult for him to lose.
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