Since their first meeting back in 2004, Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao`s careers have taken vastly different twists and turns. Both remained relatively active in the four years between each meeting, but Pacquiao`s rise to stardom often overshadowed Marquez` successes in the boxing ring. Pacquiao (at the time 45-3-2) fought 8 times over that span, going 7-1 with 5 KO`s, which included a fantastic trilogy with Mexican superstar Erik Morales. Pacquiao lost the first bout vs Morales unanimously, but won the last two legs of the trilogy with El Terrible by knockout, and sent him into a brief retirement. Pacquiao also had a rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera, an uneventful bout, which ended in a 12 round unanimous decision in favor of Pacquiao. Juan Manuel Marquez` stint in the ring was similar to that of Pacquiao. He went 6-1 with 2 KO`s, and his only loss was against Indonesia`s Chris John in a 12 round decision. Marquez (at the time 48-3-1) also beat Barrera in a unanimous decision for Barrera`s WBC super featherweight title.
So for the second time (or round 13), Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez stepped back in the ring, this time for Marquez` WBC Super Featherweight title and to settle their unfinished business. We now take you back to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on March15, 2008.
Pacquiao started off the opening round busier and backing up Marquez as he did in their first meeting. Although Marquez may have landed the best punch in the round (a good straight right), He didn’t land much else. Pacquiao landed a few decent lefts and some body shots as well, enough to take the round. Round two started pretty slow but picked up midway through when Marquez lands a quick left hook. Pacquiao would answer with his left again but Marquez` accuracy started to show when he rocked Pacquiao with a three punch combo just before the bell sounded to end the 2nd. Marquez was on the board and evened the fight on the cards. At the 2 minute mark of round three, Marquez landed another power straight right hand that wobbled Pacquiao again. He was able to time Pacquiao`s speed, exploit holes in his defense and drop in hard shots to hurt his counterpart. Pacquiao staged a late round comeback when he upped his attack around the one minute mark. Pacquiao used his feet to get in and out as he fired his shots, connecting with the left several times. Marquez obliged the warfare, but was pounded with a short Pacquiao straight left hand that dropped him on flat on his back with 20 seconds left. Marquez was up by the count of “four” and met by referee Kenny Bayless` standing 8 count. When the action resumed it was Pacquiao once again coming in for the kill, they both fired away and Marquez was rocked again by a right hand and used the ropes to hold himself up as the bell rang. In a daze, Marquez walked towards the wrong corner, Bayless had to redirect him.
A 10-8 round for Pacquiao and a 29-27 edge on the cards.
Trying to keep the energy level at a high altitude, Pacquiao`s attack started to look more accurate. He was controlling the tempo of the fight and making Marquez fight at his pace. Pacquiao landed a power combination and showed flashy footwork and defense by slipping some of Marquez` offensive outbursts just before the one minute mark. Pacquiao also landed the biggest shot of the round, a hard left hand that Marquez took pretty good. Just like he did in the first fight, Marquez was able to overcome the early knockdown and drama to get the fight in a place where he was comfortable. Throughout rounds 5-6, Marquez kept Pacquiao at bay by keeping the fight technical and not letting it turn into a slugfest. This seemed to take Pacquiao out of his rhythm. Marquez did not back up, but instead he circled away from Pacquiao`s power and timed his punches well.
Through 6 rounds PDC.com had scored the fight three rounds apiece, but overall 57-56 for Pacquiao.
In a very close 7th round, an accidental headbutt opened a cut over the right eye of Marquez. Pacquiao saw and smelled blood as he went in to engage with Marquez. They both flurried landing shot for shot in the center of the ring. Marquez landed more shots but Pacquiao landed the more meaningful punches to squeeze by in the round. If sharing is caring, then Marquez shared his straight right with Pacquiao`s right eye to open up a cut which clearly bothered Pacquiao for the entire round. This was the 1st time all night that Marquez looked to go for the jugular. He pinned Pacquiao against the ropes and threw punches with bad intentions. A landslide round for Marquez. Pacquiao`s cutman Joe Chavez was able to stop the bleeding (literally) between rounds and Manny stopped the bleeding on the scorecards in the next frame by regaining composure and reasserting his attack on Marquez. He landed combinations and began to back Marquez up again, all while opening up a second cut above the already damaged right eye. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the action for the ring Doctor to check the cut above Marquez` right eye with about 23 seconds left.
After nine rounds Pacquiao had a cushion on the PDC.com scorecard at 86-84.
As HBO`s Harold Lederman was updating the TV audience on his scorecard, Manny Pacquiao ducked a Marquez left hook and unleashed his own left hook that blasted Marquez on the chin causing him to stumble towards the ropes, Pacquiao sensing Marquez being hurt, jumped all over at the ropes to punctuate the damage. Marquez, able to sustain the attack, was hammered again at the 2 minute mark by another Pacquiao left hook. Marquez started to look slow and his offense started to subside in the Pacquiao onslaught. Pacquiao was hit by a Marquez low blow one minute into the 11th round that may have slowed him down a bit. No points were deducted and Marquez was able to outwork Pacquiao for the most part in the 11th. Pacquiao`s intensity picked up near the end of the round, but it wasn’t enough to win it.
So after 11 rounds, the PunchDrunkCorner.com scorecard looked like this - 105-103 for Pacquiao. Marquez was going to need something special to happen in the final frame, something he hasn’t been able to do in 23 rounds vs Pacquiao…… Put him down!
In what turned out to be a rather uneventful 12th round, Juan Manuel Marquez was able to ignore the blood running down his face and gut out another round, but it wouldn’t be enough to win the bout, falling just short on the PDC.com scorecard 113-114. HBO`s Harold Lederman scored the bout 115-112 for Pacquiao, On the official judges scorecards, it read like this – 115-112 for Marquez and 115-112, 114-113 for Pacquiao. Many boxing experts chimed in on one of the closest fights of our time. Copy and paste this link into your web browser to see how many of them scored the fight:
http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:1239916
If we look back on both scorecards, PDC.com never had Marquez ahead at anytime in either fight. He had an uphill battle after the three knockdowns in round one of the first fight, and was only able to pull even in round 2 of the second match up, that’s as close as he would get. Marquez landed more punches 130 to Pacquiao`s 114, but Pacquiao`s power punches were the difference in the fight. All in all it was another amazing fight by two Hall of Fame boxers and us begging for more.
Since the Split decision loss to Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez has been out lobbying again that he in fact won both fights and sports a t-shirt that says it, “Juan Manuel beat Manny Pacquiao twice”. Marquez` record stands at 53-5-1, after going 5-1 since his last duel with Pacquiao. Marquez` only loss during that stretch was to Floyd Mayweather Jr in a 12 round unanimous decision to the former pound for pound king. In the last 3 ½ years Manny Pacquiao would gain even more popularity by going 7-0 with significant wins over David Diaz KO 9, Oscar De La Hoya RTD after 8, Ricky Hatton KO 2, Miguel Cotto KO 12, Joshua Clottey UD 12, Antonio Margarito UD 12, and “Sugar” Shane Mosley UD 12, upping his record to 53-3-2.
The stage is now set for a third and possibly the final battle between Pacquiao and Marquez on November 12th in Las Vegas. Will Marquez finally reach the mountain top and defeat Pacquiao, or will Pacquiao finally silence Marquez and the critics who believed that Marquez actually won the first two fights. We`ll all find out on the 2nd Saturday in November. This time, it`ll be at Welterweight.
Joey Santana can be reached via email: theboxingkidd@verizon.net
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