By Hector Gonzalez: When Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Manny Pacquiao IV took place I was rooting for Pacquiao to win. My logic was that even though Marquez had, at least in my eyes, defeated Pacquiao in fights 2 and 3, the best thing that could happen to boxing is Pacquiao vs Mayweather and in order for that to happen Pacquiao had to first get through Marquez.
Now after the fact, having seen Marquez TKO Pacquiao, it has made me have a greater appreciation for Marquez and his contribution to boxing, the greatest boxing moment of our generation; and while Pacquiao vs Mayweather is just a fragment of our imagination, Marquez’s TKO over Pacquiao is no imagination, it’s reality.
Marquez has always been the underdog and even in talks about a 5th fight with Pacquiao some fans still see Marquez as the underdog, I find that puzzling. Marquez has always been the underdog against Pacquiao and in every single fight he has literally gotten better being even more and more dominant. Before the 4th fight I remember reading tabloids from quotes from Alex Riza and Freddy Roach saying that Pacquiao was going to KO Marquez in one round. As a fatter of fact I remember reading that for every single match in which they have ever faced each other, yet still he is the underdog.
Another appreciation that I have for Marquez over Pacquiao and Mayweather is that Marquez was never granted the opportunity to do things the easy way. As a matter of fact, the boxing world intentionally tried to prevent Marquez from shining because the biggest Mexican boxing draw at that time was Barrera and Morales. As a fatter of fact, when Marquez faced Pacquiao for the first time, Marquez was already 30 years old. Imagine what the outcome of his legacy would have been if he had faced Morales, Barrera, Pacquiao in his 20’s?
I’ve never seen a Mayweather fight where I walked away feeling like I had just seen some one put it all on the line, besides Mayweather sucker punching Ortiz I can’t really remember a memorable moment from Mayweather. At the same time, it’s also hard to watch some of Pacquiao’s recent fights without feeling like he was in the ring with a clear contractual advantage such as weight drains. It’s all part of the business of the sport I suppose- Marquez in the other hand has been able to provide something more authentic for me. Marquez was knocked down three times in 1 round and got back up and fought 12 rounds with a broken nose. Even when facing Pacquioa, Marquez had to face the demands from Pacquiao and even denied his victory, and when facing Mayweather he was cheated in the weight contract as Mayweather walked in over weight and choose to pay the fine instead.
Naïve Pacquiao fans make the claim that Marquez was on PED’s for looking more muscular then he has in the past, these same fans become silent when people question how Pacquiao fought at 130lb at 145lb the year after and then at 150lb without loosing speed or power. I’m not making accusation, I’m simply saying why some fans choose to look one way for a particular fighter and look a completely a different way for another is beyond me.
Some of these fans quantify all events related to boxing into Paquioa or Mayweather. For me both are secondary, Marquez and his greatness stands alone
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