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Pacquiao & Marquez Leave Things
Unsettled,
And This Time The Decision Is Even More Unsettling
By Bret “The Threat” Newton
Their third meeting in the ring was supposed to clear things
up. Settle the controversial endings to their previous two
wars, and give a solid ending to their trilogy. What was
left in the ring was appeared to be answered by the
fighters, but the result was just as questionable as already
considering a fourth fight between these two.
Their first
fight in 2004 ended in a draw.
Most people only remember Manny Pacquiao shocking Juan
Manuel Marquez in the
opening round, scoring three vicious knockdowns that nearly
ended the fight right then and there. What should have been
taken away from that fight was an amazing comeback, and
Marquez winning nearly all eleven of the remaining rounds.
Just getting up and being able to fight on for the remainder
of the fight was an accomplishment alone. Pacquiao was
considered lucky to have received a draw.
Their second fight in 2008 was much closer with Pacquiao only
scoring one knockdown this time, that being the deciding
factor of the fight that gave him the one point split
decision victory. When the third fight was finally made,
many believed it was past it’s expiration date and just too
little too late. That Pacquiao had gone on to much bigger
things and became the big-named fighter he is today, whereas
Marquez had looked to seen his better days in the ring. Not
to mention, it was not “THE” fight everyone has been
clamoring for, so the appeal was not fully there.
Nevertheless, Marquez has always been a warrior, fight-til-you-die
type of fighter, so it would be entertaining while it
lasted. Well, Marquez ended up doing more than that.
From the opening round, the fight was much lower paced than
their previous two which both started right off the bat.
This time both were being more cautious, only Marquez was
waiting to counter while Pacquiao was just waiting, period.
Pacquiao was not fighting like himself. He looked like he
was having trouble finding a rhythm early. Marquez’s
unwillingness to fully engage had some part in that, but
even when sitting in his corner between rounds, something
looked off in Pacquiao. He looked really out of it. Of
course, taking flush punches to the face and being knocked
off balance quite often, then missing many of his own shots
throughout the fight, also added to the uncharacteristically
looking Pacquiao.
While Pacquiao had created the name for himself by blowing
through every fighter they had put in front of him, he did
finally show some signs of wear, or even just ring-age
alone, in his last fight against Shane Mosley earlier this
year. Mosley was past his best and was never really in the
fight, even being dropped early, but Pacquiao was still
struggling to make a bigger impact. Granted the two were
very friendly in that fight, touching gloves before every
round and after any clinch, but it was the first time
Pacquiao had complained about not fully being himself. He
blamed his legs for cramping up, being the reason he could
not fully get off and put on the Pacquiao type of
performances we were so used to seeing. Last Saturday night
against Marquez, Pacquiao used a similar excuse for being
less than himself, this time the cramps were in his feet he
said.
Pacquiao vs. Marquez III played out pretty basic. It was not
nearly as thrilling as their first two encounters. The only
time the audience got excited was when Pacquiao was hit off
balance as he tried to jump in to counter. The only times
the two fully exchanged shots, neither landed anything
flush. Both appeared too preoccupied with the notion of
trying not to get hit. That made a lot of punches either
miss, or hit each others punches. The punch stats at the end
of the fight also need to be examined. They showed Pacquiao
throwing and landing more than Marquez and that just did not
appear so. Marquez was shown to have the higher accuracy and
that was correct, he rarely missed a shot as has been the
case in his entire career. But Pacquiao was not out landing
Marquez. If that was the case, Marquez would have been on
the canvas, or at least staggered. These were not jabs or
pitty-pats Pacquiao was throwing. Pacquiao was jumping in
with his trademark bombs, and missing the majority, or just
not throwing at all, while getting his head snapped back.
The final two rounds were also deciding factors in this
fight. I think it’s interesting that many are using Nacho
Beristain as an excuse factor to why Marquez could have
possibly lost the fight. Beristain was telling Marquez he
was winning the fight between rounds and many believe
Marquez eased up in the final two rounds which gave the
fight to Pacquiao, who won by two rounds on the widest
scorecard. It’s also interesting that Glen Trowbridge, who
scored it 116-112, did in fact give Marquez the 12th and
final round, while the other two judges gave that round to
Pacquiao. Dave Moretti, who scored it 115-113, gave the 11th
to Marquez. Robert Hoyle, who had it 114-114, gave both the
11th and 12th to Pacquiao. So that easing up factor didn’t matter on the one
card, but the fight would have been scored a draw had
Marquez won the final round on the other two
judges scorecards.
Also, look at their expressions after the fight. When the
final bell rang, Pacquiao slowly walked to his corner,
shrugged as if to say, "Well, I did my best.", looked down
and appeared very disappointed before he kneeled to pray in
his corner. All the while Marquez had his arms in the air
the instant the fight was over, who was then hoisted into
the air by his corner men, all sure of victory. Of course
those tell tale signs do not determine who won, but Pacquiao
did not raise his arms as he did in their previous two
meetings, this time looking as if he was ready to accept
defeat.
Was Pacquiao’s head just elsewhere with all that’s going on
in his life? Or are Pacquiao’s best days behind him? Is this
the perfect time for him to get out? I know, I know, if that
happens then everyone ends up missing out on “THE” fight
(considering it finally gets made now) that feels like everyone has been waiting their whole lives
for, but after last night, does that fight even seem
realistic? You’re asking for Pacquiao to fight an even
better, bigger, stronger, and more defensive fighter after
appearing to lose to Marquez. Floyd Mayweather has also
turned his style into a more offensive one with a more
knockout-minded behavior. Marquez knocked Pacquiao off
balance a number of times. Mayweather would’ve done the same
and more had that been him in there instead last night.
And just to add, those were not fully my feelings had these
two previously met a year or two ago as they should have. It
appears Mayweather was waiting for this day, the day
Pacquiao looked fully beatable and would not be his
Pacquiao-self. Mayweather will be fighting the Pacquiao who
finally lost decisively against Marquez, in the majority of
viewers eyes that is. Most who are still interested in
seeing that big match-up will sell it as if Pacquiao either
just had an off night in his last fight, or that Marquez was
just that one fighter that you could never look good
against, the one who always had Pacquiao’s number from the
start. But lets be honest, people only want that fight for
two reasons: One, to finally get it out of the way. It’s
long past due and they just need to get it over with so we
aren’t left wondering. And two, it’s for either Pacquiao
fans or Mayweather haters to get a chance to have hope that
maybe Pacquiao could beat Mayweather and serve him the
humble pie that most Hollywood movie endings are made of.
Only thing is, life, more often than not, does not end like
the movies.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of Oscar De La Hoya vs.
Felix Strum in the fight. So many comparisons to be made.
Not just the controversial scoring, where many believe Strum
deserved the victory, but it was the last fight needed to
set up the “big” one with Bernard Hopkins. This was supposed
to be the last fight to set up the big one with Pacquiao and
Mayweather. And remember, De La Hoya vs. Hopkins ending up
being pretty much a blow out, if you see where I am going
with this…
(hating to admit it to say the least)
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