LAS VEGAS ? Freddie Roach said Manny Pacquiao deserved the decision handed over by the three judges Saturday night but admitted that fighting Juan Manuel Marquez is something that ?I don?t want to do again but I have to.?
Roach said he was ?way off? in prediction that the scheduled 12-rounder will not go beyond six rounds.
?I thought this was not going past six rounds,? said Roach, stressing that they have to do a better job in the event a fourth fight–tentatively booked for May 2012–is made.
?We just need to deal with these counter-punchers and I have to do my job better, I guess.?
Roach said the judges ?had the best seat in the house? in defending the unpopular decision.
?The fight was there for him (Marquez) but he chose to counter-punch,? something Roach said was crucial in the judges? scoring.
Roach said the defining moment were the last two rounds.
?We squeezed it out.?
But the 51-year-old Hall of Fame trainer agreed that Marquez fought a lot better compared to their first two meetings and Pacquiao wasn?t able to cope with the Mexican?s complicated style.
?Manny was moving too much to the right,? dissected Roach.
By doing that, Marquez had plenty of success with his trademark right hand, many of them smashing into Pacquiao?s head and whose thudding sound being heard from press row.
Roach said one of the reasons Marquez never went down was that Pacquiao did not land his money shots.
?Manny hit him with some good shots, but nothing great.?
And for this reason Roach said that a fourth fight has to be made.
?He has given us problems three times now but I do think he deserves a rematch.?
?The second robbery of the two losses. This was the worst,? Marquez said through a translator. ?We won with clearer punches.?
Marquez raised his right hand in victory after the final round, only to be denied yet again.
”This was a robbery of the utmost,” added Marquez’s trainer Ignacio Beristain.
FOURTH MATCH
A flurry-filled fight that was electrifying in the later rounds created a bitter ending that had promoter Bob Arum saying he would use a rematch clause in the contract.
?I’m going to try and make this rematch in May of 2012,? said promoted Bob Arum said. ”I’m bound and determined to find a definitive winner once and for all.?
That’s fine with Pacquiao.
?I’m all for it,? he said.
