It’s like being placed between a rock and a hard place or, in the case of ring icon Manny ‘Pac Man’ Pacquiao, between “El Terrible” and “Dinamita.”
In the course of his illustrious career, Pacquiao also earned the nickname “Mexicutioner” because of the number of great Mexican fighters he dominated. However, there are two Mexican champions who bucked the odds and sneaked in a win over Pacquiao: Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales and Juan Manuel ‘Dinamita’ Marquez.
Morales defeated Pacquiao by unanimous decision in March 2005, handing the Filipino his first loss since September 1999. On the other hand, Marquez knocked out Pacquiao in six rounds in December 2012, becoming only the third boxer (the other two being Rustico Torrecampo and Medgoen 3k Battery) to stop the “Pac Man.”
Pacquiao, 41, remains active in the ring and actually holds the WBA “super” welterweight (147 lbs.) championship. Morales and Marquez had long retired, but a few weeks ago the two received a lot of media ink for an issue involving Pacquiao.
Morales apparently drew the ire of Marquez after claiming that between them he fared better against Pacquiao as he was able to beat the Filipino right in their first meeting. Morales claimed Marquez needed four fights to finally beat Pacquiao.
Mind you, Pacquiao is just a silent party in this commotion. Boxing is such a popular sport in Mexico that Mexican champions regularly battle each other to win their countrymen’s admiration. Morales and Marquez are two of the most accomplished Mexican champions in the country’s history and the battle to win the admiration of Latino fans is the real reason why Morales took a swipe at Marquez. Morales wanted to impress upon Mexican fight fans that he is superior to Marquez because he performed better against Pacquiao.
However, looking at some stats, it appears that Marquez has the upper hand.
Morales was 1-2 against Pacquiao, with all three contests taking place at junior lightweight (130 lbs.). Yes, there was no doubting the fact that Morales clearly defeated Pacquiao in their first meeting in 2005. Displaying a pesky jab that repeatedly jarred the onrushing Pacquiao, Morales dominated the Filipino in their initial encounter. However, in their next two meetings, Pacquiao knocked out Morales. In January 2006, Pacquiao halted Morales in 10 action-packed rounds. In their third and final meeting in November 2006, Pacquiao pulverized Morales in three rounds.
Marquez rumbled with Pacquiao four times from 2004 to 2012. In their first meeting in May 2004, Marquez recovered from three knockdowns in the first round to salvage a draw in a featherweight (126 lbs.) contest. The second meeting took place at junior lightweight (130 lbs.) in March 2008 and Pacquiao eked out a split decision to bag the WBC crown. The third matchup happened at the catchweight of 144 lbs. and Pacquiao barely retained the WBO welterweight (147 lbs.) crown with a majority decision win in November 2011. In their fourth and final meeting in December 2012, Marquez finally exacted revenge with a one-punch knockout win in the sixth round of a non-title, welterweight tussle.
Morales had a ready excuse for the two knockouts losses to Pacquiao. He claimed he was already struggling to stay at 130 lbs. but still agreed to take on Pacquiao without any catchweight stipulation. However, pointing to weight problems is often the alibi used by the losing boxer.
Here’s a deeper analysis: The Pacquiao Morales defeated in 2005 was just the first version of Pacquiao, the brawling type with little regard for defense and movement. Morales only defeated one version of Pacquiao whereas Marquez held his own against different versions of Pacquiao. Pacquiao was evolving as a fighter throughout his rivalry with Marquez. The Pacquiao Marquez stopped in 2012 was arguably the better, more complete version who just got caught with a last-second counter.
Moreover, Marquez fought Pacquiao from 126 to 147 lbs., chasing him in no less than four weight classifications. Marquez can readily argue that he fought Pacquiao at his strongest, physically speaking.
More importantly, Marquez can boast that Pacquiao never knocked him out. In contrast, Morales was stopped in the second fight and completely blown away in the third.
Also, Morales was never the same fighter after losing the third fight with Pacquiao. He lost four of his next eight contests, eventually retiring (for the second time) in 2012 after getting viciously knocked out by Danny Garcia. Morales never won another world title after the third Pacquiao fight. Marquez, for his part, was never knocked out in his entire career and still reigned as world lightweight king before injuries forced him to retire after a win over Mike Alvarado in 2014.
From where this writer sits, Marquez had a better performance against Pacquiao. Of course, last we heard Marquez expressed his willingness to face Morales in an exhibition bout just to settle their feud. Morales added fuel to the fire by claiming that Marquez avoided a legit fight with him back in 2011 and 2012.
It seems that Marquez and Morales may need to meet in the ring to let some steam out. Meanwhile, somewhere out there, Pacquiao is just flashing his winsome smile.
