LAS VEGAS?The pronouncements he keeps hearing in his head. The newspaper clipping he sees on the wall when pounding the speedball. The face he sees when crushing sparring partners in training.
All that becomes flesh today for Manny Pacquiao.
And it will stand before him on a ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, all 143 pounds?maybe more?of bulked-up muscles and counterpunching accuracy as Pacquiao hopes to finally exorcise the ghost that has haunted him since 2004.
Pacquiao faces Juan Manuel Marquez, his Mexican nemesis and perhaps the only other boxer to leave him perplexed?and bruised?since 2004.
It is the third match of their compelling rivalry, one already being lined up among the great trilogies of the sport?s history and one that could end up the most remembered.
?You?re going to see a fight for the ages,? Top Rank chief Bob Arum, both fighters? promoter, assured the packed and screaming throng that gathered at the Garden Arena on Friday for the weigh-in.
Even from someone prone to occasional lapses of hard-sell, Arum?s statement did sound more newsboy holler than carnival-barker bluster?if only for the effort both fighters have put into their respective training camps.
?It means everything?
Nacho Beristain, Marquez?s trainer, minced no words when asked about the magnitude of this fight for his ward.
?It means everything,? he said Friday, and his ward concurred.
?I trained hard for this fight because this is the biggest fight of my career,? Marquez said after tipping the scales at 142 pounds, two under the catchweight stipulated for this bout.
A lightweight champion moving up in size, Marquez will be fighting as a welterweight for only the second time in his career, the first time being his loss by decision to Floyd Mayweather in 2009.
Pacquiao (53-3-2, with 38 knockouts) came in at 143?his lightest fighting weight in two and a half years?and has said this fight is personal, constantly reminding himself during training of the disrespect he felt Marquez threw his way when the three-division champion flew to Manila wearing shirts proclaiming he won their two previous bouts.
