So begins our marathon coverage of one of the biggest fights of 2011, Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III Nov. 12 on HBO pay-per-view. Now: The big question about Pacquiao-Marquez III. Next: Keys to the fight.
Manny Pacquiao made Juan Manuel Marquez. Before those two fought for the first time in 2004, Marquez was the odd man out in a trio of Mexican fighters alongside Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales who was viewed — unlike his two peers — as something less than the prototypical warrior of his country, a boxer who fought more with his brains than with his testes and who produced tactical boxing exhibitions rather than grimy slugfests. When against Pacquiao, Marquez rose from three knockdowns and a broken nose in the 1st round, his testicular fortitude was no longer in question; when the remaining 11 rounds produced a classic back-and-forth battle, so, too, did the questions about his “wow” quotient.
Marquez, in a much less direct way, made Pacquiao. Before Pacquiao-Marquez I, Pacquiao was storming through men who had never been stormed through by way of extreme amounts of speed and power. Marquez in 2004 was the first to show that wasn’t enough. Morales, in his first fight with Pacquiao, took up where Marquez left off, exploiting Pacquiao’s one-dimensional jab/straight left combinations and mastering him with timing and counterpunches. After that, Pacquiao realized he needed to evolve, and he did, developing into a two-handed fighter. But Pacquiao-Marquez II in 2008 showed Pacquiao remained an unfinished work, and it was only after the rematch that Pacquiao developed into the all-around force he is now.
In their two fights, Pacquiao and Marquez showed they were made not only by each other, but for each other: Pacquiao played the role of id to Marquez’ ego, Pacquiao the role of pure aggressor to Marquez’ pure counterpuncher. That combination of styles meant both men gave each other nightmares, but it meant wondeful things for fans.
So why is the boxing world so split on whether Saturday’s trilogy fight on HBO pay-per-view is the conclusion of a classic rivalry, or a gross mismatch?
It’s because some things have changed since 2004 and even 2008. And some things are the same.
