By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao says he’s ready for the counter punching of Juan Manuel Marquez tonight when they meet at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao didn’t say exactly what he would do to prevent being counter punched by Marquez, but he did say that he’s been working a great deal on his right hand for this fight.

Pacquiao said to Sky Sports News “We believe we can bring something new for this fight. I’ve worked on my right hand and I hope to use it in the fight.”

When asked what he’d do to keep from getting hit by Marquez’s counter punches, Pacquiao said to ESPN “I’m ready for that.”

Pacquiao has been using his right hand in all of his fights with Marquez, so it’s going to be hard for him to make major changes in his game for this fight especially at 34. How much more can you develop a right hand at that age? It seems to me that Pacquiao was using it to the best of his ability in all three fights, and Marquez either blocked the shot or took without any problems and STILL kept countering Pacquiao.

There isn’t an answer to a counter puncher other than not throwing punches. Hopefully, Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach hasn’t been planting false hopes in Pacquiao’s mind that he’d be able to take care of Marquez’s counter punching simply by throwing right hand because that’s not going to be the answer.

You don’t want to get Pacquiao’s hopes up and then have them crashed down on him when Marquez starts teeing off on Pacquiao each he throws a right hand. If Pacquiao is thinking that he’s going to take care of Marquez’s counter punching by throwing right hands, he’s going to be in bad shape each time he gets smacked in the mouth in response.