MANILA, Philippines – Nacho Beristain, the great trainer of Mexican champions, is looking at a long, hard night that should go either way.
He also said he doesn?t see a knockout.
?I know it?s going to be a great fight,? Beristain told a couple of scribes yesterday at the grand Manila Hotel lobby.
?I don?t think there will be a knockout but 12 rounds of really high-level boxing,? added Beristain as interpreted by Top Rank pointman Ricardo Jimenez.
Beristain was at the corner when Juan Manuel Marquez faced Manny Pacquiao in 2003 and 2008, and was also there for Oscar dela Hoya when boxing?s golden boy lost to Pacquiao.
Yesterday, he insisted that he knows the way to beat Pacquiao.
?I know we can beat him because we?ve beaten him before,? said Beristain, like Marquez still carrying the thought that they?ve won the second fight.
It was a razor-thin decision in favor of Pacquiao. In that fight, Marquez went down early, but came out stronger than he did in the first fight, and at times hurting the Filipino champion.
Beristain said the first four rounds will be crucial in this next fight where Pacquiao?s WBO welterweight crown will be disputed at a catchweight of 144 pounds.
?If we get past the fourth round we?re going to be okay. If he (Pacquiao) doesn?t hurt us too much until the fourth round and we don?t get too crazy I think it will be better,? said Beristain.
Beristain said he wants Marquez to weigh in at 142 pounds and climb the ring no heavier than 144. In Pacquiao?s latest fight as a welterweight, he weighs in at 144 and climbs the ring at 149.
He looked back at the first two fights, and said Marquez got a little careless and carried away early on.
?Even in the first fight, we knew how to fight this guy but his (Marquez) father told him to go for it, and in the second round he thought he had Manny hurt and he went for it and got caught himself,? said the trainer.
Marquez did get carried away in the first fight, carried away by Pacquiao?s blows that he went down thrice in the first round. Yet, he managed to pick himself up and escaped with a controversial draw.
?Those are the things we can?t do. You have to be patient and wait for your opportunity. If you go with him, he has the one punch that can knock you out,? added Beristain.
Pacquiao, according to the Mexican trainer, has gotten so good, and has become a more technical fighter that it?s now easier to read his moves.
?He?s now delivering punches better, more technical. Manny still throws the punches from all angles, but now you can read him a little better,? Beristain said.
