PACQUIAO IN TOUGHEST FIGHT EVER
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 29 Dec 2007
When Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao enters the ring at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on March 15 to settle some ?Unfinished Business? against reigning WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, it will be ?the toughest contest Manny will ever fight.?
That?s the view of well-known boxing writer and TV reporter James Blears who knows Marquez and has seen him train through the years since Blears lives in Mexico.
In an email to Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Blears said he is convinced that not only will the rematch be the toughest fight of Pacquiao?s illustrious career in which he has conquered a roster of Mexican legends, among them Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik ?El Terrible? Morales but that ?it?ll be the fight of his life.?
Blears noted that Marquez has exuded confidence in the midst of early training and has said ?I?m telling you again that I am going to demonstrate who?s better and I?ll win this one.? In fact Marquez spoke of a possible trilogy with Pacquiao but took a swipe at Pacquiao for insisting that Marquez gets a smaller purse even though he is the champion.
Marquez said that after he beats Pacquiao on March 15 he?ll ? be happy to give Manny a rematch but only if he accepts the smaller purse.?
While Marquez concedes that Pacquiao was ?very strong? he said he is not technical and doesn?t like it when you go looking for the fight. He doesn?t know how to back up. ?
Marquez told Blears he was going to use ?a mixture of aggression, counter-punching lateral movement but above all intelligence as a boxer to defeat Manny.?
In their first encounter in May 2004 Pacquiao started in whirlwind fashion sending Marquez to the canvas three times in the opening round breaking the Mexican?s nose in the process. But Marquez gamely got up each time and counter-punched brilliantly to eventually salvage a draw.
To Marquez this is ?the most important fight of my life? but for Pacquiao who is still enjoying the holiday season with his family it isn?t time as yet to worry about Marquez and to begin training. He was scheduled to leave with wife Jinkee and their three children for a New Year?s vacation in Las Vegas last night and has announced he would begin workouts by January 5 and hard training at celebrated trainer Freddie Roach?s gym on January 15.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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