Now before all of you Juan Manuel Marquez fans jump me and call me a coconut hugger or whatever, let me just get one thing out of the way?Juan Manuel Marquez is definitely the best “boxer” on the planet right now. Now, when I say “boxer,” I mean a tactical and fundamental practitioner of the sweet science. Watching him fight is like watching Chris Paul maneuver his way through defenders and methodically break down the opposing team on offense. For those who don’t follow the NBA, think about one of the greatest painters who ever lived, like Picasso or Van Gogh, working on a masterpiece right before your eyes. It’s like watching jiu-jitsu and MMA legend Royce Gracie pull an armbar from his ass while in the most dire and improbable position. Inside the boxing ring, Juan Manuel Marquez really is a sight to behold for anyone who truly understands and appreciates boxing.
To quote a line from one of my old articles:
“I believe Manny Pacquiao is the best boxer on the planet today; but I also believe Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez are better ‘boxers’ than him.”
That being said, I’m still really perplexed on how people, especially a lot of the writers out there, keep insisting that Marquez really beat Pacquiao twice. Time and time again, I have watched the videos of Pacquiao-Marquez 1 & 2 and every single time, I really came out with the same outcome of Pacquiao winning both fights by a point or two. If anything, the scorecards of those who gave Marquez the upperhand really boggle me. I went through every single round and analyzed them to the best of my abilities. Admittedly, I am no professional judge, but I do have the luxury of having video to rewind, pause and review. Although that disqualifies me from criticizing the judges who had to score the fights as they happened, it does give me a chance to better breakdown the fights.
Officially, one judge from their first fight admitted that he made a mistake in scoring the first round of the fight, calling it a 10-7 round instead of a 10-6 round that he should’ve given it due to the 3 knockdowns Pacquiao scored over Marquez. Had that judge scored the fight correctly, Pacquiao would’ve been awarded with the win instead of the draw. So technically, like I said, Pacquiao really did beat Marquez twice.
Truth be told, both fights were very close and competitive. In reviewing them, however, I just never really saw enough from Marquez to really say he won either of the fights. A draw might very well have been the fairest outcome for both fights, but if anything, the knockdowns Pacquiao scored on Marquez really made the difference. Watch carefully for yourself. I’m not going to bore you with a lengthy round-by-round analysis, but I’m afraid that a lot of these analysts who insist Marquez won were influenced by the influx of those who jumped on Marquez’s “I got robbed” bandwagon. There was no robbery. Pacquiao definitely won the second fight so, like I said, he did beat Marquez twice.
Marquez had a lot of solid rounds due to his counter-punching, especially in the first fight. They were rounds that really stood out and showed Marquez’s mastery of the sweet science, but Pacquiao also had a lot of rounds that really were one-sided in his favor. Except for a few flush shots and counters that Marquez would land on occasion, they were rounds where he really was the busier fighter and landed more shots. Perhaps Marquez’s will and determination to weather the storm and come back from being down on the canvas influenced a lot of opinions. After all, everybody loves an underdog and a come-from-behind story. Perhaps Pacquiao has become a victim of his own success too. People have become accustomed to seeing him just blow by his opponents so when he encounters some difficulty, it all of a sudden seems like a loss because he didn’t completely dominate like he usually does.
I guess I can’t really say it’s too far-fetched for anyone to think Marquez won both fights. I’m just surprised at how so many take away from what Pacquiao accomplished and just hand Marquez the “moral victory.” If you really want to see a robbery, go watch some of Glen Johnson’s losses! All I’m saying is that if you were to really review both fights carefully, it’s easier to give Pacquiao the benefit of the doubt than going the Marquez route. I’ll tell you this much though, if not for those 4 knockdowns, then we definitely wouldn’t have an argument now. That’s four big “IFs” though.
Writer’s note: For all of you basketball fans out there, check out my NBA column as well by clicking the following links:
http://www.DSOURCE.HAS.IT or http://www.examiner.com/x-3586-Indiana-Pacers-Examiner
Thanks!
