Top Rank President Mr. Bob Arum has specifically stated in recent times that there would only be one man responsible for the destiny of Manny Pacquiao?s career. That man is none other than Manny Pacquiao himself as he?d be given a list of ?suitable? opponents for his next scheduled date of battle which is March 15, 2008. That list of opponents had originally been comprised of Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, and the winner of Joan Guzman-Humberto Soto. After Guzman?s effective but less than inspiring performance against Soto, the list had been shortened down to just two men:
Juan Manuel Marquez and David Diaz.
Is there any secret as to who the fans would like to see Manny Pacquiao fight?
Marquez is a top pound-for-pound fighter and is one of the greatest fighters ever to come out of Mexico City. ?Dinamita? has been clamoring for a rematch with the ?Pacman? in recent times as he feels as though there is unfinished business between the two. Their first bout back in 2004 ended in what was considered one of the most controversially scored bouts of that year. Ringside boxing judge John Stewart scored the bout 115-110 for Pacquiao while Guy Jutras had it the opposite way in 115-110 for Marquez. The third judge Burt Clements had it scored a draw at 113-113 being that instead of giving Pacquiao a 10-6 round in the first stanza, he scored it 10-7.
While many Pacquiao supporters will state that due to a scoring error, Manny was robbed of a deserved victory, it still doesn?t change the fact that Marquez gave him one hell of a fight. So what if Pacquiao had gotten a split decision victory? It doesn?t change the fact that Juan Manuel made adjustments after the first round and showed his versatility from that point on.
It was a fight in which the fans saw on regular HBO (not Pay-per-view) and were reminded of the fact that boxing can indeed be the theater of the unknown.
In speaking with some long-time Pacquiao supporters regarding his supposed choice of opponent for March 15, here is what they had to say:
?Manny is scared to lose against Marquez. I think we all saw what the Mexican can do to him after he deals with that left hand.?
?David Diaz? Everyone thinks he lost to Erik Morales so why the hell would anyone wanna see him and Manny fight??
?I?ll be rooting for Marquez if they fight again. We at Pacland are sick of these meaningless fights that Pacquiao decides to be involved in. Marquez is the only fight he should take next, there shouldn?t be any other options!?
?People say Manny got robbed in their first fight but I think it was the other way around. Marquez out-boxed Pacman for at least 10 of those twelve rounds. I can see why Manny would avoid Juan Manuel but I as a long-time fan of Manny, I don?t like it.?
The fans have spoken regarding a potential Pacquiao-Diaz fight and I tend to agree with their sentiments? well at least some of them.
David Diaz is a tough, rugged individual that just so happens to carry one of the trinkets at the lightweight division. This is the same sanctioning body that tried to intervene between the trilogy match between Izrael Vazquez and Rafael Marquez from ever happening. It just goes to show the fans as to the credibility of this organization and how ?meaningful? this ?championship? bout really is.
With the lack of credibility that these straps hold today, a bout with David Diaz is not only risky but meaningless as well. We all saw the flop that was the double-header between Jose Luis Castillo-Herman Ngoudjo and Ricky Hatton-Juan Urango. It was a fight-card that was supposed to showcase the abilities of Hatton and Castillo in anticipation of their June bout but instead ended up taking the shine off the match-up.
When will boxing learn that instead of leading up to a ?super? bout and picking up worthless trinkets in the process, it?s more effective to just go ahead and make the fight happen? For all the foreplay leading up to Pacquiao-Marquez II, I highly doubt anybody cares if they fight for the WBC, IBF, or WGT (White Gorilla Title) belts.
Somebody just make the fight that boxing fans across the globe have been waiting for since 2004…
