Las Vegas, Nevada – Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, two of this era’s greatest fighters, may be bitter adversaries inside the ring, but even their storied rivalry was not enough to stop both men from agreeing on who the clear winner of Saturday night’s big fight was between Pacquiao and undefeated Timothy Bradley. “You won. You won by four points,” Marquez told Pacquiao at the “Golpe A Golpe” ESPN Deportes coverage of the fight after the post-fight press conference.
Curious about how the man who he’s been trying to beat for almost a decade now, felt when he was handed the bogus decision loss, Marquez asked Pacquiao about his feeling upon hearing the judges’ scorecards. Pacquiao’s calmly replied saying, “I felt surprised, but I accept (the decision) wholeheartedly.”
Pacquiao and Marquez were involved in a controversial, but much closer split-decision result last November that went to Pacquiao’s favor. A furious Marquez then stormed and left the ring amidst a chorus of boos from the crowd at the venue, directed at Pacquiao and the judges’ decision.
Ironically, this time around, the shoe was on the other foot as Pacquiao stood in shock as he watched Bradley and his team celebrate the unexpected win. Was it karma? Did the judges make up for November? Pacquiao was asked. But instead of crying robbery and responding in an angry manner, Pacquiao simply said, “I don’t know. I don’t know what happened, but let’s move on.”
Pacquiao attributed his faith for helping him handle the controversial decision in a calm manner, stating that God is with him, and that the loss was easy to bear since he felt that the whole world knows he won the fight for sure, and that it was not even close.
And then Marquez asked what Pacquiao’s priority is: A rematch with Bradley; or a fourth fight against the Mexican legend? Pacquiao responded saying, not only did he prefer a fourth fight with Marquez, he also wanted to do it in Mexico.
