Manny Pacquiao Vs Juan Manuel Marquez III: Settling the Score
By Gina L. Caliboso
Fresh off his confident victory over Shane Mosley, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is truly at the height of his boxing career. I’ll take it a step further and point out that Pacquiao is the top boxer in the world in the welterweight division. But as we saw this past weekend, and should he decide to put on another 40 pounds, he may think about Bernard “Executioner” Hopkins. This is highly unlikely. But I mention the Hopkins victory because just as Pacquiao is running out of opponents. Boxing will still have some excitement.
But for now, the question remains: Who will stand up and fight Pacquiao? I won’t mention, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, JR., because I’m tired and I have a deadline. I’ll bring up another fighter that would once and for all settle things, so to speak. Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez…the fighter who gave Pacquiao such a hard time and that lost one bout and had a draw against the now dominant Filipino champ.
As Pacquiao still mulls over the possibility of retirement over his many other responsibilities as Filipino Congressman and even singer, there still remains a conflict of perspective.
According to some Pacnuts that always find their way to our website, and I love their passion dearly for the beloved Pacquiao, even they would have to look at the fights between the two a little more objectively. I’d even ask them to take a moment and conclude just how Pacquiao and Marquez would match up now.
First, Pacquiao is definitely a far different fighter.
He is much improved technically and given his last bout against Mosley when he claimed a bit of tightness in his legs, he came away with the victory and continued to produce. He uses his jab much more consistently to set up combinations and he still relies rather heavily on getting inside to execute a power hook. Pacquiao has definitely learned to fight punching up as his opponents have been taller.
Keeping this in mind, fighting Marquez may be challenging, but not much of a challenge. In their last meeting in March 2008, if you can recall Marquez’s look after his bout with Pacquiao…mentally he found himself beaten, a little worn out, and left with a tad bit of self-doubt of how much more he needed to do in order to beat Pacquiao. The bout ended with a split decision loss for Marquez.
After his loss to Pacquiao in 2008, Marquez did not allow the loss to completely affect any following performance. Later in the year, Marquez fought against Joel Casamayor that ended in an 11th round TKO.
In 2009, he started off the year against Juan Diaz and defeated him with a 9th round TKO. But we all remember the other opponent later that year. Marquez agreed to fight Floyd “Money” Mayweather, JR., and lost, rather badly.
Following his loss to Mayweather, JR, Marquez fought against Juan Diaz again and earned the 12 round unanimous decision. Finally, in his last bout in 2010, Marquez defeated Michael Katsidis, in a 9th round TKO even when he was knocked down in the 3rd round. One thing about Marquez, he may start off a little bit slower in his fights, even getting dropped, but he shakes it off so quickly that he becomes a better fighter as the bout continues.
Now, upcoming in November this year, Marquez will have an opportunity to determine if whether he is the fighter to stop the Filipino champion. It’s an unsettled score for Marquez. And, after some time to heal, Marquez can really put his words into action. He believes he defeated Pacquiao in the split decision bout and even the bout that ended in a draw. It’s a take 3 for Marquez. But give credit to Marquez in his bout against Mayweather, JR. He actually got an opportunity to fight Mayweather, JR.
It’s clear that both Marquez and Pacquiao have reached different stages in their respective careers. Pacquiao, 32, is literally at the top of the welterweight division. The bout in November will be for the WBO Welterweight belt with a catch weight at 144 lbs.
Against Mayweather, JR., Marquez weighed in at 144 lbs as Pacquiao remains successful at 145 lbs. It’s an even matchup to a degree, but there is also a sense of urgency for Marquez to prove to himself he has what it takes to defeat Pacquiao.
As a warm-up, Marquez will first fight in July against David Diaz for the WBA World Lightweight and WBO Lightweight titles. So, RSR fans, let the buildup begin. Stay tuned.