Juan Manuel Marquez has walked through fire to get where he is today and the flames were stoked when he first faced Manny Pacquiao almost four years ago. Marquez proved at that time that he wasn’t in awe of the spectacle Pacquiao had become. He just knew he was in a fight and that was very well indicated by the three knockdowns he suffered in he first round.
Let’s remember that if Pac were short a knockdown, Marquez would’ve still walked away with a win in May of ’04. Much of Manny Pacquiao’s mystique has faded and it seems like he has to try much harder to be the invincible myth of boxing today.
His reputation of being a ‘Mexican Assassin’ has to take a dent in it sooner or later and Saturday night will be the ‘sooner.’ I predict Pacquiao becomes the ‘solved’ when Juan Manuel Marquez fights the perfect fight by outboxing and just flat-out outworking the Filipino southpaw.
Not only will the win secure Marquez The Ring Magazine World Junior Lightweight Championship but it’ll also bring a little pride back to the Marquez name for brother Rafael, who lost to The Ring World Junior Featherweight Champion Israel Vazquez a few weeks back.
Marquez UD 12 Pacquiao.
