Manny Pacquiao NEWS: Floyd Mayweather, JR, Juan Manuel Marquez IV, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney & More – BOXING NEWS
By Gina L. Caliboso
It’s been rather quiet in my beloved sport of boxing. I haven’t been excited about any fight in the last few weeks even as I looked at my boxing recordings on my DVR. I’m kind of bleh. In fact, I’d even say that the fight between Obama and Romney in the last couple of weeks of Presidential campaigning has been more interesting than boxing. Sad, but true RSR fans. Sad, but true.
The business of boxing will go on after December 8th, but I’ll make a few key predictions about the issues surrounding Pacquiao and Marquez’s agreement to fight one another for a fourth time.
In approximately one month, we’ll see Pacquiao and Marquez meet in Las Vegas. There will be a build-up and hype to the fight, but let’s all admit one very obvious thing – Pacquiao vs. Marquez is clearly not the fight all of us boxing fans wanted to see. Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is the premier fight to be made. No question. Of this generation, Pacquiao and Mayweather are the best fighters in the welterweight division. We’ve seen the two dance around the possibility, but neither Pacquiao nor Mayweather want to take the lead and make concessions and do what is necessary. I’d even speculate that Mayweather is actually a pretty good sport better. Maybe he’s found his niche for after boxing.
But back to the put-up or shut-up argument. The rivalry between Pacquiao and Marquez has been a wonderful rivalry. But I’d argue that I wish that it had fallen under the category of a trilogy to a degree. Three is a sacred number. It marks a beginning, a middle, and an end without any ambiguity. The rivalry between Pacquiao and Marquez is fairly close to that of Gatti and Ward. Each boxer came to ring and boxed their hearts out. For Pacquiao, he met his perfect foil to his free swinging, angled punching style in Marquez’s, quiet, yet sustained counterpunching attack. Pacquiao and Marquez mesh beautifully against each other in style and it always showed. But what can we expect from either fighter in this fight?
For Marquez, it’s the fourth fight, but at this point, he’s definitely the put-up AND shut-up side of the contest. Marquez can only blame the judges up to a point because obviously the judges saw something in the bouts to award the draw and the wins to Pacquiao. But it’s the loss by a draw that might be leaving Marquez a bit sour. As the two had both fought at the weight that they both excelled, you can watch the fight now and judge it for Marquez. In the 2011 bout, it was judged a majority decision given to Pacquiao. Even Max Kellerman, a week later, opined that you can watch the fight and score it for either fighter. But now, what to say about the December bout? Both fighters seemingly have a lot riding on this fight. It’s more than likely linked to what will happen for either fighter – win or lose.
For the upcoming bout, I predict that it’s a fight to settle any nay-sayers. Both Marquez and Pacquiao have something to prove, both to themselves and to boxing fans. After his win/loss to Bradley, Pacquiao has been quiet and we waited for the Mayweather fight to be announced. It didn’t happen. Meanwhile, I thought Marquez would have tried to get another bout, but against whom I couldn’t even guess. Also, I had thought Marquez would have retired. Marquez has fought against the likes of Barrera, Juan Diaz, Mayweather, and of course Pacquiao. Marquez has seen his share of wins. However, it’s been a burden for Marquez to carry around two losses and one draw – against the same fighter.
As for the Filipino fighter Pacquiao, he has complained of his legs in the last two bouts. There’s something amiss there with all the running and conditioning he goes through. I won’t speculate, but as a boxer, even with his legs not being 100%, he has found a way to win. It’s the mark of a fighter to find a way to win. I cannot emphasize enough that Pacquiao must set out to find a way to beat Marquez – work angles, never hesitate to punch in bunches, and let his hands go. I don’t predict a KO, but perhaps a TKO in the 6th or 7th round, with Pacquiao winning in the 10th round. I know it would be awful if the fight didn’t go the 12 rounds, but it’s perhaps what boxing needs – at least for its marquis fighters.
Marquez has always been the champion that takes the hard punches early enough in the fight and shakes it off to fight even better. This is an untapped ability for Marquez. His counterpunching ability and taking Pacquiao’s punches well makes him look like a fighter, but here’s the caveat – the boxer, the true practitioner of the sweet science must seize the fight and offense.
Of course, I’d love a knockout. I think we’d all love to see a knockout.
