By John F. McKenna (McJack): In the lead up to the 4th fight between eight division champion Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) and WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) the hype machine is in full swing. What we have been hearing from the training camps of both fighters is that they are going to alter their styles for this specific fight. Pacquiao claims that he will revert back to his old form of when he was in his mid 20’s.

The word coming out of Manny’s camp is also that he will throw more punches, use more lateral movement and fight at a higher work rate than he did for the Trilogy fight in November 2011. The way the storyline goes is that instead of throwing two or three punch combinations Pacquiao will throw punches in bunches. There will too many enemy missiles coming in for “Dinamita” to defend against. It all sounds good in theory, but will it work in the ring against the master tactician Marquez”?

Marquez too claims that he will use a different strategy for this fight. He will be more aggressive than in his past fights with Paquiao. Marquez will attempt to take the fight out of the judges hands by scoring a KO. But if Marquez changes his strategy by fighting aggressively at this late stage of his career doesn’t he play right into Pacquiao’s hands? Won’t an aggressive Marquez run the risk of running into one of Manny’s power laden left hand bombs?

Chances are that both Pacquiao and Marquez will toy with the idea of attempting something new. What normally happens though is that in the heat of battle a fighter falls back on what he is most comfortable with. The great heavyweight champion Joe Louis was once quoted as saying “everybody has a plan until he gets hit.”

More than likely Pacquiao and Marquez will be the same fighters they have always been. “Pacman” may indeed attempt to fight at a faster pace and throw more punches. But Marquez will make the necessary adjustments as he has always done in the past. Marquez has extreme confidence in his ability and he has demonstrated in the first three fights that he has the Kryptonite for whatever “Pacman” attempts.