Manny Pacquiao faced an opponent who just kept getting up and never gave up and despite knocking down Juan Manuel Marquez thrice in the first round, found himself settling for an unpopular draw, thus losing his chance at grabbing the Mexican?s world featherweight crowns.
Marquez rallied from those knockdowns on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) to salvage the draw and retain his World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) 126-lb (56.7-kg) titles in a thrilling fight with Pacquiao.
Marquez, who seemed as if he wouldn?t make it out of the first round — the first time in his career when he was floored thrice in a round — took the fight to Pacquiao from the third round on in an encounter that had the crowd of about 10,000 at the MGM Grand hotel arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on its feet cheering almost every round.
