BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — If Manny Pacquiao dominates Juan Manuel Marquez in their anticipated third bout on Nov. 12, many observers will chalk it up to weight and the 5-to-1 underdog?s inability to carry it.
Although Marquez gave Pacquiao hell in their first two bouts — a draw at featherweight and a split-decision loss at junior lightweight — the general consensus is that the Filipino icon is better suited to fighting at the contracted 144-pound catchweight of the their third bout than the Mexican master boxer.
However, Pacquiao and his promoter, Bob Arum, don?t believe that weight is as much of a factor in this fight as odds makers and boxing writers have made of it.
Pacquiao says he has evolved as a fighter since his first two encounters with Marquez and the decisive victory he?s vowed to score in the third fight will have more to do with his improved skill and technique than weight.
Arum says the fight will come down to styles. And since he?s the promoter the Nov. 12 event, which will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, he has no problem promising the public another barnburner based on their contrasting styles.
?Manny Pacquiao is all about aggression,? Arum told the media at the recent Los Angeles-area press conference at The Beverly Hills Hotel. ?He takes the fight to his opponent. That?s why he has so much trouble with Juan Manuel Marquez, who in all the years I?ve been in boxing, is the greatest counter puncher that I?ve seen.?
Although Arum has a point, the weight factor is still hard to ignore.
Since their rematch in March of 2008, Pacquiao has won major titles at lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight, dominating and sometimes battering naturally bigger fighters along the way.
Marquez has won titles at lightweight but he floundered in his only bout above the 135-pound limit, a one-sided 12-round decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in ?09.
