Outside of his loss to Erik Morales in 2005, Manny Pacquiao hasn’t been more scrutinized over a past opponent than with Juan Manuel Marquez. Over the years, Pacquiao critics have been looking for chinks in the armor, cracks in the foundation, or imperfections in near perfection.
It seems that every time a Pacquiao critic looks over the PacMan’s recent boxing history, they always come back to Juan Manuel Marquez. It should be no surprise that Juan would also criticize Pacquiao for their fights. But to call Manny scared of Marquez is a bold statement.
The 1st Fight Pacquiao and Marquez first fought on May,8, 2004. They met at the 125 pound mark and fought for Marquez’s WBA strap. Pacquiao put Juan on the canvas 3 times in the first round. To Marquez’s credit, he was able to get back up and finish the fight. The fight ended in a draw as 1 judge had it 115-110 for Pacquiao, the 2nd judge had it 115-110 for Marquez and the 3rd judge had it 113-113. Marquez threw 547 punches to PAcquiao’s 639 but landed 10 more punches than the Pacman with 158.
The 2nd Fight Pacquiao and Marquez would meet again in March of 2008 at 130 pounds. The fight was for Marquez’s WBC super featherweight strap. Pacquiao won by split decision (115-112, 112-115, 114-113). Most boxing critics supposedly felt Marquez won the fight as he dominated Pacquiao in the second round despite being knocked down in the third round. Marquez landed more punches (172 to 157) despite throwing over 100 less punches than Pacquiao (511-619).
Controversy Both fights ended in highly criticized outcomes. Now, many believe that Pacquiao should have won the 1st fight and those same people believe that Marquez should have won the2nd fight. Even Manny’s current rival Floyd Mayweather Jr criticizes Manny over these fights and says that Manny really lost both fights.
Scared Recently, Marquez has been running his mouth saying that Manny is scared to face him again.
“Pacquiao is scared of me because he knows who won the fight” Marquez, Boxingscene.com
Juan wants another fight with Manny Pacquiao and has been publicly calling for it for about a year now.
Jason Watson Sacramento, CA “Do you think Manny is scared to fight Marquez for a 3rd time?” I don’t think Manny is scared to fight anyone. I do think this is Juan trying to get another big payday as he approaches the twilight of his career.
Conclusion I personally feel that Manny should fight Marquez one last time. Perhaps, after he vanquishes Mayweather and the winner of Foreman/Cotto. I think it would be a fitting way to close out his career by beating the man who has fought Pacquiao better than anyone else. Every fighter has that one opponent that matches up well against him. Marquez is that guy for Manny.
After the Clottey fight, Freddie Roach said he would love to see Manny KO Marquez and shut him up for good. I for one, would love to see that as well. Apparently, Manny would want to fight Marquez at 147 and Marquez would like it at 140 or as close as possible. I think a catchweight would be perfect for these two. Let’s get the trilogy and then Manny can close the chapter on this saga once and for all.
Do you readers think Manny should fight Marquez one more time?
