The past two Pacquiao vs Marquez fights were filled with controversies.
The third one was not an exception.
After 36 rounds, Manny Pacquiao still could not put away his arch-nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez for good.
The first two meetings were fought at the 126 and 130 pounds limit. When the Pacquiao vs Marquez 3 fight was decided at a catchweight of 144 pounds, an 8-1 odds of winning was immediately put against Marquez. After all, his first try at the welterweight division ended with him being shut out by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. while Pacquiao has dominated bigger opponents the likes of Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Joshua Clottey and Oscar De La Hoya among others.
An online poll put up at this site showed that 65% of the fans believe Pacquiao will knock out Marquez while only 15% believe it will go the distance in favor of Pacquiao.
But even with the “imagined” Pacquiao advantage, Marquez has the answer to every thing Pacquiao has thrown at him. He was able to consistently land a straight right hand and keep Pacquiao off-balance. Marquez, the defensive counter-puncher is the perfect foil for Pacquiao’s offensive style of boxing.
Pacquiao even ended up with 28 stitches above one eye due to an accidental headbutt. After the final bell had sounded, he was clearly disappointed with his performance shaking his head while going to his corner while Marquez is raising his hands in jubilation.
In the end, the judges felt that Marquez has not done enough to upset Pacquiao. Judge Robert Hoyle scored it a draw, 114-114. But judges Dave Moretti and Glenn Trowbridge had it 115-113 and 116-112 respectively to give the Majority Decision win to Pacquiao.
That elicited a chorus of boos from the sellout crowd of 16, 368 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and several Marquez fans threw drinks toward the ring, splattering the ringside media section.
After the decision was announced, Marquez walked out of the ring in disgust leaving Pacquiao and Bob Arum for the post-fight ring interview.
Unlike the first two bouts, in which he had four knockdowns, Pacquiao was unable to send Marquez to the canvas. According to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 176 of 578 punches. Marquez connected on 138 of 436 punches, preferring, as in his first two fights, to counter punch. Pacquiao had a 117-100 edge in power shots.
Pacquiao retained his WBO Welterweight title and extended his winning streak to 15 fights but his status as the number one pound-for-pound boxer in the world is now in question.
Yes, Juan Manuel Marquez is still “The Last Mexican Standing.”
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