By Gerardo Granados: This fight was even better than the previous three that were full of excitement and for sure will be awarded as fight of the year and also knock out of the year. Maybe there is very few left to comment but perhaps what is missing is to thank both Manny and Juan Manuel for giving boxing fans around the world a genuine title fight between two world champions even if the title at stake was bogus.
Manny gave no excuses for his defeat, he only said he did not see the punch and congratulate Juan Manuel for his victory. But he might have been distracted, after all his duties as a congressman must distract him a little, to take decisions that should be made by his trainer Freddie Roach and physical trainer Alex Ariza were not good at the end. His vast entourage and the adulation that he receives from it could be a big distraction for him to make him believe he is invincible.
On the other hand Juan Manuel has always been very disciplined inside and outside the ring, he and trainer Ignacio Beristain were able to decipher Pacquiao´s fighting style since the first fight and for the last they came up with a game plan that was very effective when they prepared for a more aggressive Pacman tuning the accurate counter punching, speed and power of Marquez.
This fight started as if it was the continuation of the last one, but this time Pacquiao was even more aggressive but also Marquez looked faster and more powerful. The fight was not as close as the previous three, there were close rounds but Pacquiao was clearly ahead on the score cards. I scored it round 1: 10-9 Pacman, round 2: 10-9 Pacman, round 3: 10-8 Dinamita, round 4:10-9 Dinamita, round 5: 10-8 Pacman, on the sixth round Pacman was clearly ahead until he was brutally stopped.
I thought that Marquez had lost his chance on the third round after failed to pressure Pacquiao to finish him off, Manny looked more cautious the next round but after dropping Juan Manuel on the fifth round (a mix of the punch and stumble with Pacman right foot) he regained control of the fight and was connecting clean solid punches. On the sixth round Pacman was dominating Dinamita until he failed to decide to throw his jab or his big left or move back, dropping his right hand while moving forward getting caught with a hard clean accurate powerful right hand that simply fulminated him.
The knockout was simply beautiful and full of drama, no one could of imagine that the fight was going to end with a single punch. Pacquiao made a mistake and Marquez capitalize on it big time. Manny´s wife was in shock and his old friend Buboy was desperate because Pacquiao fall flat on his face and was not moving for at least two minutes. On the other corner Juan Manuel was bleeding, bruised, cut with a broken nose, raised his hand and jump to a corner to celebrate. The roar of the audience was loud as a big thunder and the adrenaline flow from the ring towards the boxing fans all around the world. It was a great boxing night that will be remembered for a really long time, for me it can be compared to the Hearns vs. Hagler fight.
A friend of mine asked me if is it possible to have a fifth fight between these two? I responded to him that it could be a good business for Marquez but maybe boxing fans would not like to see a direct rematch and to wait another year could be to much.
Pacquiao isn´t finish, at welter he still can defeat most of the top ten ranked in the weight division. A fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. can still be an interesting fight but Manny has already lost his leverage to negotiate the terms of the contract. Robert Guerrero might be tailor made for Manny; Devon Alexander isn´t a big name nor have a big fan base but just as Tim Bradley or Paulie Malignaggi might not represent a big threat for Pacquiao. Obviously if Pacman struggles on his next bout he should seriously consider retirement, but that is highly improbable. The worst thing that the welterweight contenders can do is to see Pacquiao as an easy prey.
Marquez plans to rest and he deserves it. He could just retire but the big purses will knock on his door so you can expect him to fight next year, but against who? Pacman rematch? I prefer to see Marquez moving back to light welter, Amir Khan could bring him a big pay day; to try to unify the division against Danny Garcia could end in a good fight, even Adrien Broner could bring good PPV numbers. At welter WBA champion Paulie Malignaggi would be a good fight for him.
Ladies & gentleman as the year comes to an end I want to thank both Pacquiao and Marquez for giving boxing fans a great fight to enjoy; and also wish them and the readers to have a happy holidays and a happy new year.
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