PACQUIAO-MARQUEZ II: THE RING MAGAZINE CHAMPIONSHIP
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 11 Jan 2008
The Ring Magazine superfeatherweight title is at stake. It is vacant and the winner will be crowned the best in the division. It will erase all doubts as to who won their first May 8, 2004 controversial fight. It is called ?Unfinished Business.? Manny Pacquiao will challenge WBC superfeatherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez come March 15, 2008 at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay.
Manny Pacquiao is the WBC international superfeatherweight champion and is rated number one by Ring Magazine in the division. While Marquez is ranked number two by the Bible of Boxing in the same weight class. Pound-for-pound, Pacquiao is at number two behind Floyd Mayweather, Jr., while Marquez is number three.
"This is the one everybody wanted to see," Golden Boy?s Richard Schaefer said. The bout, which will be televised by HBO PPV, is the much-anticipated rematch of the world. Pacquiao (45-3-2, 34 KOs) downed Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KOs) three times in the first round of the first encounter, but Marquez battled back and the fight was declared a split draw.
"Manny is going to knock him out," Top Rank boss Bob Arum said. "Manny feels that he has really improved dramatically since that first fight with Marquez and that Marquez has gone backwards."
"Marquez-Pacquiao II will be one of those must-see fights for boxing fans," HBO PPV's Mark Taffet said. "Kudos to the promoters and fighters for continuing to make the fights that boxing fans want to see and for continuing the sport's momentum well into 2008."
Schaefer declared that Marquez wanted the fight very badly and took the bargain just to make it happen. Marquez knew there is unfinished business between them. The whole boxing world awaits for the rematch to occur.
?Manny, he wanted to fight the guy he could make the most money against. But Marquez really did his part to make this fight. He agreed to accept the terms which really are heavily in favor of Pacquiao,? Schaefer said.
For Marquez, it was all about himself as the only Mexican fighter standing up there and showing all the countrymen that this guy Pacquiao beat two legends, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, and he?s going to demonstrate Pacquiao what Mexican fighters are all about.
?That is what motivates him. He knows with a victory over Pacquiao that his name will be considered right there with Morales and Barrera,? Schaefer added. Pacquiao has beaten successively six Mexican fighters, including Morales twice, Hector Velasquez, Oscar Larios, Jorge Solis, and Barrera, who retired after the match.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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