Stats
Manny Pacquiao
Age: 33
Hometown: General Santos City, Philippines
Nickname: "Pacman"
Height: 5'6 1/2"
Reach: 67"
Stance: Southpaw
Record: 53-3-2 (38 knockouts)
Ranking: Current pound-for-pound king and number 1 ranked welterweight
Titles Held: WBC Flyweight (1998-1999); IBF Junior-Featherweight (2001-2003); The Ring Featherweight (2003); WBA Junior Lightweight (2008); WBC Lightweight (2009-2009); The Ring Junior Welterweight (2009); WBO Welterweight (2009-Present); WBC Junior Middleweight (2010)
Juan Manuel Marquez
Age: 38
Hometown: Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Nickname: "Dinamita"
Height: 5'7"
Reach: 67"
Stance: Orthodox
Record: 53-5-1 (39 knockouts)
Ranking: Number one lightweight
Titles Held: IBF Featherweight Title (2002-2004); WBA Featherweight Title (2003-2004); WBC Super Featherweight (2007-2008); The Ring Lightweight (2008-present); WBA Lightweight (2009-present); WBO Lightweight (2009-present)
*Rankings from The Ring Magazine
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Marquez (Left) and Pacquiao (Right) both feel they earned
the victory after their first contest. |
On November 12, long-time rivals Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez face-off for the third time with both hoping to put an epic end to this legendary trilogy. Although both fighters are older and heavier since they last met, many still feel that they are the perfect rivals. The first two fights between the two boxers have been a thing of debate. In their first match, Pacquiao and Marquez battled a hard twelve rounds only to have the judges score the fight a draw. Even though the fight was a draw many in the boxing community felt that Marquez was robbed of a victory. To no ones surprise, the fighters' paths crossed yet again in 2008. The fight seemed to start right where the previous one had left off. Both exchanged brutal combos hoping to erase the memory of their first meeting. Marquez seemingly got the better of Pacquiao in the exchanges, but Pacquiao was eventually able to floor Marquez mid-way through the fight. Marquez seemed unaffected and continued fighting, but the knockdown was enough to sway the judges. Pacquiao won via split-decision in a fight that was determined by a one point difference. After this fight it seemed both fighter's careers took different paths. Pacquiao became the international icon that he is today, while Marquez was left to watch as his rival began living the life of a god. Marquez still seems bitter about this, often saying that he would be where Pacquiao is today if he would have been awarded the victory in the first two fights. Unfortunately, Marquez will never be able to change the results, but he will have a chance to finally prove to everyone who the better fighter truly is. Both Pacquiao and Marquez are coming into this fight more motivated than ever, knowing that this has potential to be another brawl similar to the first two. It's exactly this thought which has both fighters determined to score a stoppage while also erasing any doubt about the legitimacy of the first two matches.
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Pacquiao (right) is sent to a neutral corner after starching
Ricky Hatton (left) with a vicious right hook. |
As one would expect Pacquiao is a strong favorite leading into Saturday's fight with Marquez. As of late, Pacquiao has seemed nothing short of unstoppable in the way he has been able to seemingly handle his opponents from bell-to-bell. He is coming off of a one-sided decision over an over-the-hill Shane Mosley (46-7-1), and another unanimous decision against Antonio Margarito (38-7). What has led to all of Pacquiao's success is the fact that he is able to move in between weight classes while still managing to keep his speed and power. It's this, along with his southpaw stance, which frustrates opponents to no end, forcing them to abandon strategy as they try to keep up and win a round. The best example of this could be found in his win over Shane Mosley. Pacquiao was running circles around Mosley all night, and all Mosley could hope to do was keep up. Some are right to question the quality of Pacquiao's recent opposition, but it seems Pacquiao is more than content to continue this trend as long as people continue buying his fights. The difference with his upcoming fight against Marquez however is the fact that these two have so much history in the ring. It's this fact alone which seems to be selling the fights to most viewers as they are intrigued about the possibilities that Marquez may really have Pacquiao's "number". For Pacquiao to win this fight he is going to have to ignore these claims. It's no secret that Marquez' strategy will be to constantly apply pressure to Pacquiao, so Pacquiao will have to resort to his quick counter-punching as well as his foot-work in order to effectively out-box a fighter like Marquez. If Pacquiao is able to weather the early onslaught while picking his spots and moving effectively he should be able to make quick work of Marquez while further adding to his legacy.
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Marquez (left) batters Pacquiao (right) with counter-punches
in their second fight. |
There is no denying the fact that Juan Manuel Marquez is one of the greatest all-action fighters, while also being an eventual Hall of Famer. For now however, he is identified as being the face of Mexican boxing right after the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez. There is no ignoring the fact that Marquez is an older fighter, but somehow he has managed to stay relevant in the sport while also remaining dominant in the lighter weight classes. Marquez is able to manage this feat by incorporating a counter-punch heavy game-plan into his all-action style of fighting. This style allows Marquez to be a fan-favorite, while also boxing smart. Even though Marquez is able to counter-punch effectively there is no denying the fact that he has the tendency to get touched up. In some of his recent fights Marquez has been knocked down or even rocked against lesser competition, yet he has been able to come back and stop his opponents. It is this kind of amazing recovery that allows Marquez to stay in a fight regardless of how many times he was knocked down. One of the best examples was during his first fight with Pacquiao. In the first round Marquez was knocked down three times, yet he managed to recover and come back stronger than ever in the following rounds. Even if Marquez has one of the best chins in boxing, he can't resort to that alone if he plans on beating Pacquiao, come Saturday night. Marquez will have to instigate a brawl with Pacquiao from the opening-bell in the hopes that he can begin counter-punching Pacquiao effectively. If he can set this pace while effectively countering Pacquiao's coming shots there is no doubt that Marquez can convincingly defeat Pacquiao, even stopping him.
Prediction
As the opening bell signals the start of the round both fighters will come out quickly hoping to catch their opponent early. Both will depend on quick combos with Marquez having some early success. Towards the end of the round Pacquiao will unleash his own flurry, catching Marquez by the end of the round. At the start of the second, Marquez will apply pressure hoping to set up his own counter-punches. He will start having some early success, catching Pacquiao as he moves backwards. The two will continue throwing punches as the bell signals the end of the second. As the third round beings, Marquez will look to apply his same strategy as the previous round. Marquez will once again try to overwhelm Pacquiao, but as he lunges in Marquez will get hit by a Pacquiao right-hook. Marquez will taste the canvas, but will immediately rise. The two will continue trading, but Marquez begins getting over-anxious. As the round is about to close Pacquiao will once again rock Marquez badly, but is forced to stop the onslaught due to the signal that the round has ended. As both fighters come out for the fourth, Pacquiao has found his groove as Marquez continues to implement his game plan. The fighters both come out swinging with Pacquiao getting the better of these exchanges. After a brief pause, Marquez will begin looking for the knockout. As he tries to throw a hard right hook, Pacquiao will counter him and land his own left cross. Marquez will once again go down, but will beat the ref's count. The fighters come to the center of the ring as Marquez tries to recover from the last knock-down, but he will he wobbled again by Pacquiao's lunging left straight. As Marquez tries to survive the round he will find himself trapped on the ropes as Pacquiao releases a furious flurry of punches. After a few seconds the ref has no choice but to step in, and call a stop to the fight. Pacquiao is awarded a stoppage victory, as well as a highly-anticipated match-up against former pound-for-pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather on May 5.
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Pacquiao (143lbs.) and Marquez (142 lbs.) pose for media after weighing
in for their November 12 scrap. |
Pick: Manny Pacquiao def. Juan Manuel Marquez via mid-rounds stoppage (KO)
Quick Picks
Timothy Bradley vs. Joel Casamayor
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Timothy Bradley poses as he weighs
in for his fight against Casamayor |
In the co-main event, junior-welterweight champion Timothy Bradley will defend his belt against one-time Cuban standout Joel Casamayor. This fight is mostly a showcase fight for Bradley considering that Casamayor is coming into this fight over-weight and over-the-hill. Bradley will control the fight from bell-to-bell with Casamayor offering nothing, but a head to punch. As the fight drags on Bradley may eventually begin to get tired, but Casamayor will still not have much to offer to the young champion. Bradley will come out with a Unanimous Decision win, as well as a chance to challenge Amir Khan for junior-welterweight supremacy.
Pick: Timothy Bradley def. Joel Casamayor via Unanimous Decision
