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Philippines, 17 May 2024 |
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PACQUIAO-MARQUEZ TRILOGY WOULD BE A SOP, FIGHT FANS WANT PACQUIAO-MAYWEATHER PhilBoxing.com Tue, 03 Aug 2010  Prior to his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr, WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez who embraced us warmly on his arrival at the Los Angeles airport pleaded with us to help him get a third fight with Manny Pacquiao, the boxing world?s pound-for-pound king and more recently acclaimed as the ?Fighter of the Decade.? We told him then we could always try but deep down realized that his chances of getting a third fight with Pacquiao would depend on how he fared against Mayweather, the decidedly bigger man. Dropped in round two, Marquez fought as gamely as Mayweather would allow him to and lost a lopsided decision ? not for want of trying but simply because Mayweather was too good in addition to enjoying a 15 pound advantage when they entered the ring. The fight was supposed to be made at 144 pounds but at the last minute was changed to 146 to give into Mayweather?s dictation and when it was time for the weigh in, Mayweather was still two pounds over at 146 and paid a fine of $600,000 instead of shedding off the excess weight. So much for parity and fairness of the man who claims to be better than the best. Marquez in contrast came in at 142 pounds ? a genuine lightweight forced to bloat up to make the welterweight limit. In his fight against Juan ?Baby Bull? Diaz on Sunday, Marquez came in well below the 135 limit. These facts must be considered in a rational evaluation of Marquez? unending quest for a third fight with Pacquiao who is the reigning WBO welterweight champion having stopped the tough Miguel Cotto, a legitimate 147 pound champion in the 12th round, after taking complete charge midway through the title fight. While there are those who hark back to the two close encounters between Marquez and Pacquiao as the basis to justify a third fight in addition to Marquez? lopsided win over Juan Diaz they seem to be forgetting some essential facts. The first fight against Pacquiao was on May 8, 2004. That was when Pacquiao sent Marquez to the canvas three times in the opening round before the Mexican, in fairness to him, fought back gallantly to salvage a draw courtesy of judge Burt Clements who admitted after the fight that he made a mistake in scoring the first round 10-7 and not 10-6 which the two other judges had done based on the three knockdowns. If Clements had scored it correctly, Manny would have emerged the winner. In their rematch on March 15, 2008 Pacquiao dropped Marquez one more time to win a close split decision which we believe was decided by the knockdown. Based on the realities at that time, Marquez deserved a third fight. But that was then and this is now. Pacquiao has gone on to destroy David Diaz in nine rounds, pulverize Oscar De La Hoya and make him quit on his stool at the end of the seventh, separated Ricky Hatton from his senses in two rounds and took the best shots of the hard-hitting, naturally bigger Cotto and mauled him into submission in the final round of their title fight last November. Besides, while Marquez put on a fine showing in a lopsided win over Juan Diaz whom we always felt was an overrated fighter who got the recognition simply because he was a nice young man that fit into the American mould. It wasn?t a devastating performance by Marquez against a fighter with his left leg strapped and his movement hampered who showed absolutely no ability to move laterally, didn?t work behind a jab which appeared non-existent and honestly looked like a calf being led to the slaughter rather than the ?Baby Bull? he was touted to be. Yet Marquez couldn?t even really hurt him let alone drop the young Texan. The fact that the attendance figures were some 8,000 plus reflected on the drawing capacity of both fighters in a card that was hyped to the hilt based on their first meeting which was chosen ?Fight of the Year.? Ranged against that first fight, the rematch was a disappointment and showed that both Marquez who won the first by a stoppage and Diaz who looked much worse this time around, had deteriorated with age clearly beginning to show in the case of Marquez. Pacquiao has long left Marquez behind in terms of achievements and world-wide recognition and popularity as a genuine crossover star. Boxing is basically business and it certainly doesn?t make sense for Pacquiao to fight Marquez one more time merely to satisfy Marquez? pleas and the yearnings of some boxing writers. Juan Manuel Marquez is a truly likable individual and was an excellent boxer in his prime. But that time has passed while Pacquiao is still at the highpoint of an illustrious career. Frankly, it would be far better for those who are eager to see a trilogy to spend their energies and use their persuasive pens in pressuring Floyd Mayweather Jr to be a man and face up to Manny Pacquiao because that?s the fight boxing fans want to see and to offer them Pacquiao-Marquez III would be a sop they don?t deserve. Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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