How big is Manny Pacquiao? Big enough for other fighters to name a punch after him. Last night, at UFC 107, former heavyweight champion Frank Mir landed a picture-perfect lead straight left that floored his opponent, Chiek Kongo, just 40 seconds into the bout. It was only the second punch that the southpaw heavyweight threw, but it was enough to secure the victory moments later when he locked in the guillotine choke for the submission. Afterwards, Mir revealed that he owed his victory to the power of "The Pacquiao".
"It's something we've been saying the whole training camp. We call it 'The Pacquiao' because Manny Pacquiao will step off as a southpaw and throw the overhand left," Mir told the Daily Telegraph's Gareth A. Davies. "As soon as I hit Kongo I went to catch him with the uppercut and I didn't see him, he was on the ground."
Boxing fans have grown accustomed to seeing the power of "The Pacquiao" on a regular basis. The trademark punch of the Filipino wrecking machine, Pacquiao has rocked and dropped many elite champions, including Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales, by landing his devastating overhand left. Using his speed and angles, Pacquiao confuses his opponents and lands the punch when his opponents least expect it. It's the punch they never and 9 times out of 10, it's the punch that sends them straight to the canvas.
At UFC 107, the power of "The Pacquiao" was on full display when Mir landed a left hand reminiscent of the left that Pacquiao knocked out Ricky Hatton with. The fact that Mir worked hard in training to emulate Pacquiao's technique is a testament to just how far the Filipino superstar has come. Not only is he an influence in boxing, but he's also an influence in mixed martial arts as well. Needless to say, you probably won't be seeing to mixed martial artists implementing Floyd Mayweather's shoulder-roll techniques.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: FightHype welcomes the talents of Andre Zurbrug to the team.]