By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO’s) has struggled badly in two previous fights with Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KO’s), appearing to lose both of them in the minds of many boxing fans, including this writer. Now, Marquez is old, nearing 40, and fighting out of his weight class in his upcoming November 12th fight against Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The last time he fought Pacquiao was in 2008, but Marquez has aged since then and the fight will be taking place at welterweight at 144 lbs. The last time Marquez fought Pacquiao, Marquez weighed 130 lbs and was much younger. There’s really not much point in the fight taking place other than seeing it as a semi old timers fight for Marquez against a guy that is still relevant. Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, somehow sees this fight as an opportunity for Pacquiao to prove himself as the better fighter once and for all.

It seems pretty ludicrous, like saying that just because Pacquiao beat an old and past his prime Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya that it translated into Pacquiao being better than those guys in their primes. You can’t say that because there’s no way of knowing how Pacquiao would have stacked up against them. We already know how Marquez did against Pacquiao while he was still young and he appeared to beat him twice. Now the results will be different, of course, with Marquez almost 40 years old and clearly on the downside of his career. How Roach can get something from a win over Marquez at this point is unclear.

“It’s a fight I want,” Roach said in an article at ESPN en espanol. “It’s the one were asking for cause we want to shut them up and to prove they never get robbed.”

Things are much different now than they were three years ago. Marquez is a lot older, not the same fighter and isn’t a welterweight. Pacquiao isn’t going to be meeting Marquez at his weight or even half way. The fight is basically taking place at welterweight and Marquez has already proved that he can’t fight at this weight. It’s sad that Roach is going to try and crow after this fight and use it as basis for saying that Pacquiao was better than Marquez all along when the variables have completely changed in this fight compared to the last two. Marquez is a lot older and nearing the very end of his career, as Mosley was in his recent fight with Pacquiao, and he’s not a welterweight.