Like everybody else, Manny Pacquiao is so excited with his coming rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez.
?Yes, it?s Marquez. I?m excited,? said the Filipino boxer who can create a stir with everything he does and everything he doesn?t, especially off the ring.
Pacquiao, the best pound-for-pound, will face Marquez, the old Mexican super-featherweight champion, on March 15 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Again, it?s a fight the world wants to see.
It will be a rematch of their featherweight fight in 2004 at the MGM where Marquez went down thrice in the first round but managed a controversial draw.
Once again, the fight almost got away as Pacquiao seemed set to move up as a lightweight (135 lbs) and challenge WBC champion David Diaz, also of Mexico.
But Marquez, through Golden Boy, managed to steal the fight by agreeing to a pay cut that was not divulged.
The Los Angeles Times, in its Dec. 1 issue, quoted Marquez as saying, ?I?m champion, and wasn?t happy that he was allowed to dictate so many of the details about wanting to earn more money in this fight.?
Lance Pugmire, of the LA Times, also quoted Marquez as saying, ?But this is the fight I always wanted. I want to prove he?s not the Mexican killer he says he is.?
The other night, Pacquiao said he plans to get in shape as soon as possible.
?December, even by jogging. And after my birthday (Dec. 17) and Christmas I will begin serious training,? said Pacquiao, pushing 29 and five years younger than Marquez.
Pacquiao is expecting his promoter, Bob Arum, for his birthday celebration, which is normally grand. Then they fly to the US on the 19th for the fight press conference on the 20th.
Over the phone, Pacquiao said he isn?t sure yet whether all his training, this time, would be done in Freddie Roach?s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
?I?m still thinking about it. I may come back and train in Cebu for two weeks after the press conference, or stay on in the US and train there all the way,? he said.
Marquez is now vacationing and, based on reports, will report for training the first week of January.
