Given the hype surrounding the rivalry of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, and the buildup to Saturday’s culmination of their trilogy, a letdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas would have surprised no one — especially considering the recent tenor of the sport’s biggest fights. But aside from one eyesore of an undercard fight (Can we all agree to just pretend Timothy Bradley Jr.-Joel Casamayor never happened?), the card lived up to its billing and possibly then some. Pure entertainment? Sure. But it turns out we also had plenty to learn from Pacquiao-Marquez III:
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the best fighter in the world. In some ways, the biggest winner on Saturday night wasn’t even in the building. Seeing Manny Pacquiao struggle and, at times, look lost against a 38-year-old adversary whom many believed he would walk through, how many people still truly believe that Pacquiao would beat Mayweather? Yes, styles make fights and Marquez has the style that will always give Pacquiao fits, but part of the reason for that is that Marquez is a pinpoint counterpuncher who is able to maneuver Pacquiao out of position. Any other pinpoint welterweight counterpunchers come to mind? Right now, there’s no real debate. Mayweather is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. (However, there’s one way in which Mayweather may not be a winner: A lot of the luster has now come off the long-anticipated Mayweather-Pacquiao clash, and as a result, a lot of money may have been pulled out of the pot, too.)
2. Pacquiao and Marquez are made for each other. In a way, it was fitting that this fight should take place on an evening that honored the recently departed Smokin’ Joe Frazier. Professionally, Frazier was defined by his trilogy with another great fighter against whom he matched up well, an in-ring rivalry that birthed outside-the-ropes hate and anger. As early as Round 3 of this third fight, I speculated in ESPN.com’s live coverage that we could be in for another close and controversial decision, and so it proved. There were ebbs and flows in the fight: Pacquiao starting the first third brightly, Marquez seeming to dominate the second third and even make Pacquiao look lost, and a final third that was more nip-and-tuck. But within each of those segments, there were individual rounds that were incredibly close. Pacquiao and Marquez could fight a fourth or even a fifth time and still never find a decisive winner.
