IT WAS a near-perfect punch, thrown with timing and precision.
It was also unleashed by a wounded, battered fighter who would later concede that his opponent was just about ready to finish him off.
Not unlike a cornered cobra left with no choice but to strike back with deadly force. It was kill or be killed.
That punch also happened to be powered and fueled by years of pent-up frustration and aggravation.
To call it a lucky punch would be irreverent, and downright blasphemous.
A lucky punch is when you close your eyes, and hope against hope you will hit something.
There?s a reason why they call Juan Manuel Marquez the consummate counter-puncher and that punch was irrefutable proof.
But no matter the history and drama behind that punch, the Pacquiao of old would probably have taken it a lot better than the Pacquiao we saw last Sunday.
But let?s not get ahead of ourselves.
THE FIGHT. As promised, Pacquiao started off aggressively and initiated the exchanges.
He looked fast and strong and took the first round easily.
The second was close with Manny landing his left straights and Marquez scoring with his jabs and counters, but I gave that round to Manny on account of his busier work rate.
Marquez looked sharp in the third, but Pacquiao was still dictating the tempo when suddenly after what seemed like a rare lull in the action, Marquez threw an overhand right that snaked through Pacquiao?s porous defense and landed smack on his jaw.
Down he fell like a log, a surreal moment for fight fans considering that Manny hasn?t been knocked down in years, not even against bigger guys and most especially not after 36 rounds with the same opponent.
He was up at the count of five, grinning sheepishly.
He seemed to shrug off what seemed to be an aberration at that point in the fight, but Marquez landed more punches to dominate the round.
Pacquiao came alive in the fourth and the two exchanged blistering combos, but Marquez seemed to shade it slightly.
The fifth round saw Manny respond with a knockdown of his own courtesy of that laser-like left hand. He battered and bloodied Marquez with furious combinations, and at this point in the fight, the tide had clearly turned.
In the sixth, Marquez fought back valiantly, but Pacquiao was relentless. He scored with quick powerful flurries and ?Dinamita? seemed ripe for the taking.
Blood trickled down his busted nose and he had the look of a tired, battered fighter.
Then it happened.
With about two seconds to go, Pacquiao lunged but his lead foot got caught (Marquez stepped on it) and he missed. Marquez was ready with a pre-cocked right hand that crashed into Manny?s jaw.
Manny was out before he fell and he crashed face first onto the ring apron, his body numb and unresponsive.
Ref Kenny Bayless immediately waved it off upon seeing the motionless Pacquiao and pandemonium ensued.
WHAT HAPPENED? That?s the question on most people?s minds, and I will share my opinion.
The most bewildering thing is how Marquez could so easily have knocked Pacquiao out considering he hadn?t even come close to hurting the Pacman in 36 previous rounds.
Some writers have opined and posed the intriguing theory that Marquez could be juicing on something illegal on account of his conditioning coach Angel Heredia, a shadowy character with a recorded history of using banned performance-enhancing drugs.
That, of course, is a possibility, but in the absence of proof, the lawyer in me balks at pronouncing Marquez guilty by mere association.
Sans any official lab results, all that is mere speculation and I refuse to go down that route.
In the first place, all that hoopla about Marquez being bigger was disproved when Marquez weighed in at 143 lbs. to Pacquiao?s 147.
Sure he may have looked more compact and solid. But bigger? No.
Even during the fight, their physiques looked pretty similar, and I thought Manny looked slightly bigger with his broader shoulders.
PACQUIAO?S DECLINE. I will, however, offer a different spin on the matter that I think merits some consideration.
Several factors come into play in the anatomy of a knockout. There?s the torque behind the blow, and for this we take into account a fighter?s strength, the acceleration of the punch and even the angle from which it was thrown.
(To be concluded on Sunday)
LAST ROUND. It?s on Mandaue City?s tough-talking Assistant City Prosecutor Bienvenido Mabanto Jr. who correctly predicted Marquez to win by knockout before the 7th round! Truly, a Nostradamus of the fight game. Cheers!
