LAS VEGAS?With all the lessons he has learned in the art of fighting counterpunchers and all those days of training hard and studying his opponent?s films, Manny Pacquiao is ready to explode.
?I?m so excited already,? Pacquiao said. ?Let?s get it on.?
And this three days before the fight.
With the promise of a vastly improved performance and a definitive end to one of the more compelling debates in boxing, the world?s acknowledged pound-for-pound king is going all out against Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the MGM Grand here.
?I believe I?m going to win the fight,? Pacquiao said during a final press conference Wednesday. ?The question is, what do I need to do to prove that I really won.?
His last statement referred to Marquez?s repeated claim that he won their two previous bouts, which resulted in close decisions?a draw in the first and a narrow split decision in Pacquiao?s favor in the second.
And all signs point to one answer: A smashing knockout victory.
?There?s going to be a lot of fireworks on Saturday,? Pacquiao?s trainer Freddie Roach promised. ?We worked really hard with Manny for 10 weeks. We know our man is ready.?
Pacquiao calmed rabid expectations of a knockout, saying that while he had ?trained hard for the fight? he was ?not really? looking for a knockout.
?If the knockout comes, it will just be a bonus for all the hard work I put in training,? he said.
