By John F. McKenna (McJack): Saturday nights victory at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas was particularly satisfying for future hall of fame warrior Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO’s) as he did what he set out to do by brutally knocking out Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s). After three controversial fights, there can be no controversy over who was the winner in last night’s slugfest.
Pacquiao had come back from a 3rd round knockdown to score a knockdown of his own in the 5th round and seemed to be on the verge of victory when he was caught by a powerful right hand that sent him crashing face first to the canvas. The KO Pacquiao suffered was eerily similar to the one he inflicted on Ricky Hatton three years ago. Manny by his own admission in a post fight interview revealed that he felt like things were going his way and became careless. Pacquiao also stated that he never saw the punch coming which rendered him senseless.
It is an old axiom in boxing that everything else being equal, the fighter who wants victory the most usually wins the match. There can be no doubt that “Dinamita” went above and beyond what was expected of him in his quest for victory. He trained like a man possessed and was totally committed to defeating his opponent and nothing else. There were no distractions which prevented the Mexican hero from achieving the victory he confidently predicted.
When asked in the post fight interview if he would entertain the though of facing Pacquiao again Marquez responded by saying that for the time being he wanted to celebrated and savor the moment with no thought given to future fights.
Marquez once again defied the odds makers by pulling off what must be considered his greatest triumph in the ring. Marquez acknowledged that he decided to go for the KO because he was being caught by some of Manny’s power shots and realized that he himself risked being KO’d.
Pacquiao was taken to the hospital after the fight as a precaution due to the brutality of the KO he suffered. Manny had previously won world championship title belts in eight divisions. Prior to the KO Pacquiao landed more punches by a wide margin and connected at a higher percentage rate of 37% to 21% for Marquez, but in the end the only punch that mattered was the last one.
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