MANILA, Philippines — Many boxing scholars rank Manny Pacquiao as one of the world?s best fighters, but some learned observers believe Juan Manuel Marquez is even better.
Take Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports. In his ?Mailbag: Think Outside the box? that appeared Feb. 5, Iole picked Marquez to win over the Filipino ring icon by decision in their rematch on March 15 at the Mandalay Bay & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to Iole, who covers boxing and mixed martial arts, ?Marquez is simply a better boxer than Pacquiao, whose punches are still wide.?
Iole explained that ?not many can take advantage of that, but Marquez, who throws straight punches and is very accurate, can and will.?
As in Pacquiao-Marquez I that wound up in a controversial draw after Marquez rose from three first round knockdowns, Iole believes the rematch is going to be close.
Among the world?s best super featherweights, Iole also put Marquez on top, with Pacquaio a close second.
Others in Iole?s list according to order are unbeaten Joan Guzman, Humberto Soto, knockout artist Edwin Valero and Alex Arthur.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao and Marquez have stepped up their preparation for the PPV (pay-per-view) mega-buck bout by taking on sparring partners.
The Marquez camp has reportedly taken in Japanese super lightweight champion Norio Kimura as spar mate while renowned trainer Freddie Roach has lined up unbeaten fighters Juan Garcia from Phoenix and Irish Dean Bryne and Adrian Gallon to spar with Pacquiao.
