Last weekend I had a lengthy talk with WBO female bantamweight champion Ana Julaton, who defends her title tonight in Yucatan, Mexico against Jessica Villafranca. While I definitely appreciated Julaton taking me through the steps of her life that lead to this point in her career, I was also interested in the 31-year old?s take on another key matchup in the sport.
On November 12th, WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao will meet Juan Manuel Marquez for a third time inside of the squared circle at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Julaton and Pacquiao share the same trainer in Freddie Roach and when speaking on the matchup she instantly flashes back to the first two encounters between the them.
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?I think it?s exciting,? Julaton stated of Pacquiao-Marquez III. ?It has a great history behind it. Everyone will always remember Pacquiao knocking down Marquez three times in the first round and Marquez coming back and taking the fight to a draw. The second was still controversial where the scorecards were close and what most people think is that the knockdown made the difference. For me, I?m a big Manny fan and I really believe in Manny and I feel like he won the first two fights.?
Marquez surely has the right to feel he won the first two bouts, as each contest was extremely close to call with several rounds that could have gone either way. Julaton feels that Pacquiao needs this fight to get some type of closure from his connection to his Mexico City rival.
?I think Manny and Freddie really want to have this fight out there so they can settle this once and for all,? said Julaton. ?I think it?s great, I think they need to have this fight so they can settle this once and for all. So I think it?s great, I think it?s something that will make Manny train hard and will make him motivated for this fight.?
