Aside from all the talk and pre-fight hype concerning Marquez? new conditioning coach Angel Heredia and steroids, as well as unfinished business between Manny and Juan Manuel, and that perhaps the Filipino icon is destined to finish off his adversary via knockout, the reality is that not only will this WBO welterweight title be the the biggest fight of the year on paper between Emmanuel ?Pacman? Pacquiao 53-3-2 (38 KO?s) of General Santos City, Cotabato del Sur, Philippines, and Juan Manuel ?Dinamita? Marquez Mendez 53-5-1 (39 KO?s) of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico, but no doubt it will be the biggest fight of the year once the bell rings and these two fistic legends go at it for a third time at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada this coming Saturday night. When these two fighters meet, it simply generates a buzz like no other in boxing today, harkening back to the excitement produced by Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, and other legendary fighters during their heyday, when such men captured the imagination of an entire generation with their ring exploits. With the whole world watching and waiting in anticipation of this upcoming showdown, not only do I feel compelled to offer my thoughts on what may transpire this Saturday night, but I also feel it is significant to set a backdrop and touch upon what has transpired since the last time these two warriors met in March of 2008, where Manny seemed to edge out Marquez in a bout that many claim could have gone either way, as well as discuss their first meeting in 2004 that resulted in a draw, although I had Marquez coming back to pull off the victory in that fight by winning the exchanges and landing the more effective counter shots after suffering three knockdowns in the very first round. And what has happened since these two warriors met is that Juan Manuel Marquez has earned the right to fight Manny based on his thrashing of Aussie standout Michael Katsidis, his two victories over former lightweight and junior welterweight world champion Juan Diaz, as well as his win over former two division champion Joel Casamayor, not to mention he gave it his all against a much bigger Floyd ?Money? Mayweather in a one sided losing effort. We will leave Marquez? most recent fight against Likar Ramos in July of this year out of the equation, except to say that Likar looked to take a dive, and he probably wasn?t invited to the Marquez training camp to help prepare Juan Manuel to face the ?Pacman.? And for all the predictions that Manny Pacquiao is going to finish Marquez off this time in decisive fashion, I think that just like in their previous two encounters, this will be a nip and tuck battle all the way through, or as long as it lasts, with the victor yet to be determined. No doubt Manny Pacquiao has improved markedly, transforming himself from a lunging type fighter with virtually no right hand and somewhat poor balance, to a man who has developed a considerably more stable stance with better balance, which equates to more power, and as well has become more of a two handed fighter who has incorporated to me, what is the most devastating punch in the arsenal of the southpaw, not the straight left which a conventional fighter has an opportunity to pick up on, or adjust to, as Marquez had done to a large extent in their previous meetings, but the right hook, which in many instances you don?t know it?s coming.
