Filipino Scene » Mayweather

Pacquiao beats Marquez

Blue M. — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 07:37:30 +0000

LAS VEGAS – The potential $200 million fight was saved by a very slim judges’ call.

Manny Pacquiao defeated Juan Manuel Marquez in yet another excruciatingly close fight, winning a majority decision Saturday before a sellout crowd of 16,368 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to keep hopes alive for a 2012 match between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Judge Robert Hoyle had it a draw, 114-114, as did Yahoo! Sports. But judge Dave Moretti favored Pacquiao 115-113 and Glenn Trowbridge had Pacquiao winning 116-112. Thus, Pacquiao retained his World Boxing Organization welterweight title and kept alive a mega-bout against Mayweather.

Upon hearing the decision, Marquez and his team stormed out of the ring.

Mayweather, who routed Marquez by winning every round of a 2009 fight, is the only fighter in the world other than the Filipino congressman with a legitimate claim to boxing’s mythical pound-for-pound top spot.

And after Saturday’s performance, Mayweather may move up regardless.

Pacquiao has had difficulty in three fights with Marquez’s counter-punching style and Saturday was no different. Marquez, who bulked up to 142 pounds, was able to consistently land a straight right hand and keep Pacquiao off-balance.

Pacquiao, who had been on a 14-fight winning streak going into the match, was only able to get his offense untracked in spurts. And unlike the first two bouts, in which he had four knockdowns, Pacquiao was unable to get Marquez onto the floor.

Pacquiao made a late run to close the gap after Marquez appeared to pull ahead in the middle of the fight. Neither man, though, was able to do much in the final round with the fight on the line.

The crowd was angry at the decision and several Marquez fans threw drinks toward the ring, splattering the ringside media section.

According to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 176 of 578 punches. Marquez connected on 138 of 436 punches, preferring, as in his first two fights, to counter punch. Pacquiao had a 117-100 edge in power shots.

Their two previous bouts were furious battles, and both could have gone either way. Their 2004 match was a split draw, with one judge favoring Pacquiao, another Marquez and the third, Burt Clements, having it a draw.

But Pacquiao could have won that bout had Clements scored the first round, in which Pacquiao scored three knockdowns, 10-6. Clements scored it 10-7, later explaining he was unaware he was allowed to call a round 10-6. Had he scored it 10-6, as did the other two, Pacquiao would have pulled out a split decision.

Pacquiao scored a razor-thin split decision in their 2008 bout, in which Pacquiao lifted the World Boxing Council super featherweight belt from Marquez.

Pacquiao desperately wanted the third fight as a way to prove he was the better man. He was irked by the fact that Marquez wore a T-shirt to several public events that said, “Marquez Beat Pacquiao Twice.” Pacquiao called it disrespectful.

In the feature undercard bout, WBO super lightweight champion Timothy Bradley, who signed with Top Rank in October in a bid to get a fight with Pacquiao, retained his belt by stopping 40-year-old ex-champion Joel Casamayor at 2:59 of the eighth.

It was a one-sided fight that Bradley dominated. Casamayor used dirty tactics, head butting often and had a point deducted, but he couldn’t land many punches. Bradley, fighting for the first time since Jan. 29, wasn’t as sharp as normal, but he put a beating on the veteran Cuban.

Marquez dangerous fighter to Manny Pacquiao

Blue M. — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:17:31 +0000

MANILA, Philippines – Juan Manuel Marquez isn’t given much of a chance to upset WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in their 12-round bout in Las Vegas on Nov. 12 but despite the 8-1 odds favoring the Filipino icon, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum is convinced the Mexican is a dangerous opponent who can’t be taken lightly.

“Those are crazy odds,” said Arum, referring to the betting line, during his recent visit to Manila to kick off the World Press Tour for the fight. “Anytime Manny fights, he’s going to be the big favorite because he’s just so popular. If it’s not Manny fighting, the odds will be different under the same circumstances. Remember that Manny and Marquez fought twice before and both fights were close. So it doesn’t really make sense to put Manny an 8-1 favorite for the third fight. But that’s Manny. If it were two other fighters with the same history, the odds would probably be even.”

Arum said what makes Marquez a tough opponent for Pacquiao is his counter-punching style.

“Sure, Marquez is a dangerous opponent for Manny,” said Arum. “You saw how close their first two fights were. Marquez has to be the best counterpuncher in boxing today. He’s very effective when up against someone who attacks like Manny. It’s his style. Marquez likes it when his opponent charges in.”

Arum pointed out that when Marquez battled Floyd Mayweather Jr., he faced a fighter who wouldn’t engage. Mayweather badly outclassed Marquez and won on a lopsided unanimous decision. “Mayweather took Marquez out of his style,” explained Arum. “He didn’t engage, he moved around and popped from a distance. That’s how you beat Marquez because he’s not able to counterpunch effectively against a guy who isn’t taking the fight to him.”

Pacquiao and Mayweather are poles apart in terms of fighting style. Pacquiao is a relentless volume puncher who puts a lot of pressure on his opponents while Mayweather is a slickster, using his boxing skills to control the pace of the fight. It’s what makes a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown a potential box office blockbuster.

Another thing about Marquez that impressed Arum is his ability to recover from a sticky situation. “Marquez has gone down in a lot of fights,” he said. “Against Manny, he was floored four times, thrice in the first fight and once in the second. But he never gave up and in fact, took Manny to the limit twice. He was decked by Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis but got up to come back firing. That’s also what makes Marquez such an exciting fighter. He refuses to surrender.”

To warm up for Pacquiao, Marquez took on Colombian Likar Ramos, a southpaw, in Mexico last July 16. What was supposed to be a workout turned out to be a cakewalk as Marquez knocked out Ramos at 1:47 of the first. Boxing News writer Kenneth Sam-Bouhairie wondered about Ramos’ backbone as it appeared the Colombian took the easy way out before getting seriously hurt. “Never before have I seen a fighter fall in that manner, attempting to regain his balance, falling and then closing his eyes once his butt hits the canvas,” he wrote. “It doesn’t explain (Ramos) being knocked out cold on the canvas after seemingly bracing himself for the fall.”

Marquez, 28, raised his record to 53-5-1, including 39 KOs, and shut the lights out on Ramos with a perfect right straight – the same punch he’ll use in trying to penetrate Pacquiao’s left-handed defense.

When is the Manny Pacquiao fight againts Mayweather?

Blue M. — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:21:41 +0000

When is the Manny Pacquiao fight againts Mayweather? Will this fight ever going to be a reality? Both sides are still in the negotiation, but clearly Pacquiao wants to fight Mayweather. This will probably the last and final fight for Manny Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao recently won a seat in the recent political election in the Philippines.

A recent source say that the fight will take place around Dec, 2010 either in Dallas or Las Vegas, NV. This will be the toughest fight for both fighters and will also be the highest paid fight for both fighters. Just who exactly is going to come out a winner? Most people predict that Mayweather will come out victorias because of his size and power. Since it’s probably Manny Pacquiao last fight, he will come out aggressive and all out fight till the end.

But we will not know till the fight is finalize and it’s a sure fight that is going to take place around Dec, 2010. Boxing fans will surely enjoy this fight and surely be the biggest boxing fight in recent history of this sport.

Pacquiao Mayweather Fight Is Off

Blue M. — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:49:05 +0000

As many of you know that the Pacquiao Mayweather Fight is Off. But I think after the fight that each fighter will have this coming spring, they will resume the talk to a fall fight or even a fight 2011.

Everyone was looking forward to this fight and it was going to be the biggest boxing fight in a long time. But the fight will eventually going to be a reality someday, but for now we’ll have to settle for a mediocre fight for each fighter. Manny Pacquiao agreed to take the drug test a month before the fight and right after the fight, but the Mayweather camp did not want that, so the fight is off for now.