By Chris Williams: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire thinks Manny Pacquiao fought a brilliant fight before getting knocked clean out in the 6th round last Saturday night against Juan Manuel Marquez. Donaire thinks it was just one of those things that happen when you get hit hard and end up poleaxed.
Donaire said to RingTV “Pacquiao fought brilliantly, except for that unexpected turnaround.”
by Joss Gooseman
Respect to the Coach
With the recent brutal 6th round KO loss of Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) to Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO’s) last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, there is widespread talk of his retirement. That Pacquiao is past his prime, that he is not what he used to be. That he may have lost his hunger and focus on the game. That may as well be, but should we not also focus on Freddie Roach? Don’t get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for Mr. Roach. He contributed a lot to the sports of boxing. He is even making the ultimate sacrifice in continuing his job the best way he could in spite of of his illness.
That when most people might just have given up and led a peaceful life, enjoying the fruits of their years of labor, Freddie continues to battle with the disease everyday just to be able to train his fighters and give us fights we all undeniably enjoy. But the nagging question remain – does his illness somehow diminishes his capacity as a boxing trainer? Instead of or with Manny Pacquiao, should Freddie Roach retire?
By Chris Williams: Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank says that Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) told him that Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO’s) was neither stronger nor a bigger puncher in their fight last Saturday night compared to how he punched in their three previous fights.
That’s kind of unusual thing to say given that Marquez knocked Pacquiao down twice in the fight and he’d never knocked Pacquiao down in their other fights. You have to wonder whether Pacquiao was thinking clearly after his 6th round knockout loss to Marquez, because the logical conclusion one would make after watching that fight is that Marquez IS punching harder than before.
By Eric Thomas: Juan Manuel Marquez really cemented his legacy last Saturday night with his big win over Manny Pacquiao. He left the Filipino fighter on his face on the canvas in the 6th after landing one of the best right hands you’ll ever see. Marquez was simply too strong for Pacquiao, and he showed it almost every time he landed one of his shots in this fight.
The win puts Marquez in the class of Erik Morales, Julio Cesar Chavez and Marco Antonio Barrera. Marquez might be the best of the bunch because he didn’t have a lot of padding on his record. He fought the best from the early part of his career and you can make a very strong argument that the only losses that Marquez should have on his resume is his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. when Marquez moved up in weight from lightweight to welterweight to fight Mayweather and in his first of his career against Javier Duran, a fight in which Marquez was disqualified in the 1st round.
By Mark Havey: Boxing is defined by legacies. History has been kind to some, harsh to others, and some left forgotten. This era we have been fortunate enough to have two dominant champions in the same weight. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have had everyone talking. What does the future hold for their reputations.
In years to come people will certainly remember the Pacman. He has been named the fighter of the decade and won fighter of the year numerous times. He spent four years as ring magazines pound 4 pound best fighter on the planet, he won 2009 KO of the year when he sensationally stopped Ricky Hatton in 2 rounds.
By Allan Fox: The recently defeated Manny Pacquiao will reportedly be back in the ring on April 20th with his already scheduled fight date. That’s a quick turnaround date for a fighter that was knocked out as viciously as Pacquiao was by Juan Manuel Marquez in his 6th round knockout loss. That’s only four months in between fights. Pacquiao’s head won’t have much time to rest from the KO loss, and he might get knocked out even quicker if Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum sticks with the April date.
There’s no word yet whether Marquez will accept a 5th fight with him, as there’s talk that Marquez is considering retirement. Brandon Rios was supposed to be fighting the winner of the Paquiao-Marquez 4 fight, but in this case he could be facing the loser in Pacquiao. This would still be an interesting fight even with Pacquiao having been knocked out by Marquez last Saturday. Rios has good power, an exciting style of fighting, and he’s one of those guys that only fights in one direction – forward. Rios isn’t a counter puncher like Marquez, so Pacquiao wouldn’t have to worry about that from him.
By Jason Kim: Boxing fans have been busy second guessing trainer Freddie Roach for his aggressive fight strategy that Roach had Manny Pacquiao using last Saturday night against Juan Manuel Marquez. Fans, and some writers, are playing Monday morning quarterback by saying it was the wrong strategy for Roach to have Pacquiao using against Marquez in their fourth fight.
Roach doesn’t believe it was, as he feels it was just one of those things where Pacquiao ran into the shot while he was trying to finish off a bloody and battered Marquez in the 6th, and I agree with Roach. If you look at the 5th and 6th rounds ago you’ll see that Marquez was taking bad punishment, his face was cut, his nose looking broken, and he was consistently getting beaten to the punch by Pacquiao.
By Gerardo Granados: This fight was even better than the previous three that were full of excitement and for sure will be awarded as fight of the year and also knock out of the year. Maybe there is very few left to comment but perhaps what is missing is to thank both Manny and Juan Manuel for giving boxing fans around the world a genuine title fight between two world champions even if the title at stake was bogus.
Manny gave no excuses for his defeat, he only said he did not see the punch and congratulate Juan Manuel for his victory. But he might have been distracted, after all his duties as a congressman must distract him a little, to take decisions that should be made by his trainer Freddie Roach and physical trainer Alex Ariza were not good at the end. His vast entourage and the adulation that he receives from it could be a big distraction for him to make him believe he is invincible.
By Chris Williams: Ricky Hatton was stunned at the sight of seeing his former conqueror Manny Pacquiao knocked out with a sledgehammer of a right hand by Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez last Saturday in the fourth fight of their series. Hatton thought that Pacquiao was in control of the fight when he got hit with right hand fro Marquez in the 6th that pitched Pacquiao over face first on the canvas.
Hatton said on his twitter “Just watched the Pacman vs. Marquez fight. What a punch, walked right onto it. Pacman was winning I thought. Still in shock.”
By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach stubbornly still doesn’t think his fighter Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) did anything really seriously wrong in his 6th round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO’s) last weekend. Roach just chocks it up to Marquez landing a hard right hand from a really short distance with power that Pacquiao and Roach really weren’t expecting from the proud Mexican warrior.
Roach said after the fight “I thought we almost had him out. Get a little careless, and walked into a two-inch punch… He never saw it coming. If you watch the replay, it’s about a two-inch.”