LAS VEGAS ? In dire need of an emphatic win to resuscitate his sagging career, Manny Pacquiao faces Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time on Saturday night (Sunday noon, Manila time) in a non-title welterweight fight with heavyweight ramifications.
Pacquiao, the eight-division champion beloved the world over, is coming off a heartbreaking defeat to Tim Bradley last June and is eager to erase its stigma with a resounding victory before a sellout crowd of more than 16,000 at the MGM Grand.
Saying that he probably had the greatest training camp in years, Pacquiao is looking forward to get back into his winning ways to prove that he is not yet ready to be counted out.
?Finally, the time has come,? said the soon-to-be 34-year-old Pacquiao after weighing in at a heavy 147 lbs on Friday.
Marquez, who turned 39 only last August, came in at 143 lbs.
?They told me I have to be more focused (for this fight),? said Pacquiao. ?With the hardwork that I showed in the gym, I can truly say that I am ready to fight 100 percent.?
Marquez likewise expressed his excitement to share the ring with Pacquiao.
?We?ve fought 36 rounds and we know each other so well. It?s going to be a war.?
Even though Pacquiao holds a 2-0-1 win-loss-draw record against Marquez, ringsiders are of the opinion that all three fights were so close that nobody would have complained if all three had been awarded to the Mexican.
Pacquiao and Marquez fought to a thrilling draw in May 2004 before Pacquiao won the rematch on a split decision in March 2008 and was declared winner by majority decision in the third showdown in November last year.
The heartbreaks have made Marquez bitter up to this day and nothing less than a clear-cut win would make his hurt and pain disappear.
Pacquiao enters the ring with a 54-4-2 slate with 38 knockouts, while Marquez parades a 54-6-1 ledger with 39 knockouts and a burning desire to exact payback.
Kenny Bayless will be the third man on the ring, while the three judges will be Steve Weinstein of New Jersey, Adalaide Byrd of Nevada and John Keane of England.
Although Marquez has no beef about the officials appointed by the Nevada Athletic Commission, he wants their score sheets to be rendered meaningless.
To do just that, Marquez has to knock Pacquiao out.
But Pacquiao also has the same line of thinking ?to prove to everyone that I am the superior fighter.?
Even trainer Freddie Roach doesn?t want the fight to be decided by the judges.
?I want a knockout to shut them up,? said Roach.
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum said that a win by Pacquiao would likely set him up for an April 2013 clash with big-hitting Brandon Rios, while a Marquez conquest might see him squaring off with Bradley.
