Honestly, how many of you truly believed that Juan Manuel Marquez had this much left in the tank? Yes, he was competitive in his March rematch with Pac Man, but those five extra pounds left many boxing pundits wondering out loud.
On Saturday night, ‘Dinamita’ made many of us look like fools, and had many more within the boxing community wondering whether a third fight with Manny isn’t such a bad idea, after all! Bravo to Marquez for not allowing judges to rob him of certain victory yet again. Having been down that road twice in the not-to-distant past with Manny Pacquiao, Marquez must have certainly been intent upon pulling down the curtain on the distinguished career of Joel Casamayor, and that’s exactly what he did! With boxing being what it is, I wouldn’t be so certain that we’ve seen the last of the Cuban veteran. Besides, the lightweight division has recently joined the welterweight and junior-featherweight divisions as the ?must see? weight classes in the sport.
Having just witnessed one of the more eventful boxing weekends in recent memory, for various reasons, most fight fans woke up Sunday morning wondering why they had Manny on their minds. The short answer to that is that Pacquiao’s name will always come up in conversation whenever Marquez’s is mentioned. The two proud warriors fought arguably two of the closest bouts in recent years, yet the results were inconclusive. In their first scrum, Marquez had to climb off the canvas three times in the first round to battle his way to a hotly-contested and highly-disputed draw. To this writer, it seemed that Dinamita’s technical superiority prevailed handsomely over the second part of the bout, a bout in which it was hard to award more than four rounds to Pacquiao. Looking at the Punch Stat numbers, it’s hard to fathom why any judge would not have awarded the decision to Marquez. It was clearly a case of the busier, more accurate fighter being irreparably-penalized for one horrific opening round. Following nearly the same scri pt as their first bout, the rematch four years later, again saw Marquez down early, this time only once, in the third round. Unlike the earlier match, Pac Man was the busier fighter this time. Marquez’s superior accuracy and ring generalship were clearly on display this night and it was reflected in the scorecards of ringside reporters, virtually all of whom had Marquez winning by a point or two. Pacquiao had the post-fight comportment of someone who had just gotten away with a mini-heist, for the second time!
Does Manny owe Marquez a third fight? Will his avoidance of a third fight with his primary adversary indicate a lack of confidence on his part? Should boxing fans expect a third meeting between these two extraordinary talents to take place, and if so, in which weight class?
In light of the close nature of each of their previous two fights, Marquez and Pacquiao should certainly get it on again. It’s good for boxing, good for the hardcore fans, and good for both fighters. Manny can eliminate all doubts about the results of the earlier bouts with Marquez with a resounding victory in a third fight. Marquez can further validate his claims of beating Manny in 2004 and earlier this year, and he can further cement his legacy as a multi-division superstar and Mexican boxing icon. Were a third bout not to take place, no one would have the right to question Manny’s courage as a result. After all, he has fought Marquez twice and both were exciting, fan-friendly fights. As an ardent fan of boxing, I honestly don’t see a third fight between these two on the horizon. If by some minor miracle, a third bout were to take place, I’d anticipate it taking place in the lightweight division. Marquez had absolutely no problem making weight as a junior-lightweight and he will certainly have no weight issues at lightweight, but asking him to further balloon up to 140 lbs. Just might be pushing the proverbial envelope!
The unexpected knockout of Casamayor scored by Marquez this weekend made the lightweight division even more of a conversation piece amongst the diehard fans of the Sweet Science. However, any discussion regarding lightweight supremacy would be unworthy of merit if it didn’t include Nate Campbell’s name. And before all of this lightweight business is sorted out, I have a strong feeling that a college student in Houston just might have a lot to say about things. Hang onto your hats, folks, because the lightweight division just got a whole lot more interesting!
